/~A  ^*L&<S^  —  ^^<t<^s^^ 


nioerstttj  of  44 
4  4 (California  4 


:; 


UNIVERSITY 


Engrave  d  ly  G.  II  Ellis. 


MEMOIR 


OF 


THE  LIFE 


OF 


RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

»  ' 

AND 

HIS  CORRESPONDENCE 

VTITH 

THE  MOST  DISTINGUISHED  MEN   IN  AMERICA  AND    EUROPE, 
ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THEIR  CHARACTERS, 

A2TD  OF  THE 

EVENTS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION. 


BY  HIS  GRANDSON 

RICHARD  H.  LEE, 

OF  LEESBURG,  YIHGIXIA. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 
VOL.  I. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
H.  C.  CAREY  AND  I.  LEA,  CHESNUT  STREET. 

William  Brown,  Printer. 

1825. 


SPREGKELS 


Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania,  to  -wit  .• 

..»,.,„  BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  That  on  the  sixth  day  of  September, 
5  SEAL.  £  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of 
«..*«.»«  America,  A.D.  1825,  H.  C  CAREY  &  I.  LEA,  of  the  said  District, 

have  deposited  in  this  Office  the  title  of  a  Book,  the  right  whereof  they 

claim  as  proprietors,  in  the  words  following,  to  wit: 

"  Memoir  of  the  Life  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  his  Correspondence  with 
the  most  distinguished  Men  in  America  and  Europe,  illustrative  of  their 
Characters,  and  of  the  Events  of  the  American  Revolution. — By  his 
Grandson,  Richard  H.  Lee,  of  Leesburar,  Virginia.  In  two  volumes. 
Vol.  I » 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  entitled 
"  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps, 
charts,  und  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  during  the 
times  therein  mentioned.'*  And  also  to  the  act,  entitled,  "  An  act  supple- 
mentary to  an  act,  entitled  •  4n  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by 
securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprie- 
tors of  such  copies  'luring  the  ime.«  1  herein  mentioned/  and  extending 
the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  ann  etching  historical 
and  other  prints." 

D.  CALDWELL, 
Clerk  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


TO 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  JOHN  ADAMS, 


AND 


CHARLES  CARROLL, 

SURVIVING  SIGNERS   OP  THE   DECLARATION  OF   INDE- 
PENDENCE, 

The  MEMOIR  of  the  Life  of  RICHARD  HENRY 
LEE,  the  Mover  of  the  Resolution  in  Congress, 
on  the  7th  of  June,  1776,  "  That  these  United 
Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  te,  Free  and 
Independent  States,  &c." 

Is  most  respectfully  dedicated, 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


OF 


RICHARD  HENRY  LEE 


CHAPTER  I. 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  the  subject  of  the  following 
Memoir,  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Lee,  of  Stratford,  in  the 
county  of  Westmoreland,  and  colony  of  Virginia.  He 
was  born  on  the  twentieth  day  of  January,  1132. 

His  forefathers  were  among  the  first  emigrants  to  the 
colony  of  Virginia.  Richard,  the  great-grandfather3 
emigrated  from  England  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the 
First;  but  afterwards  made  several  voyages  to  England, 
bringing  with  him,  on  every  return,  a  number  of  follow- 
ers, for  each  of  whom  a  certain  portion  of  land  was 
granted  him,  under  the  title  of  "  Head  Rights."  He 
finally  settled  in  the  county  of  Northumberland,  in  that 
part  of  Virginia  called  "  the  Northern  Neck,"  between 
the  Rappahanoc  and  Potomac  rivers.  He  was,  for  a 
long  time,  secretary  to  Sir  William  Berkeley,  then  go- 
vernor of  the  colony.*  Richard,  the  second  son  of 

*  During  th«  civil  war  between  Charles  the  First  and  the  Par- 
liament, Richard  Lee  and  Sir  William  Berkeley,  being  royalists, 
kept  the  colony  to  its  allegiance,  so  that,  after  the  death  of  the 
king,  Cromwell  was  obliged  to  send  some  ships  of  war  and  troops 
to  reduce  it.  Berkeley  and  Lee,  not  being  able  to  resist  this 


6  LIFE  AND  COUIiESPONDENCE 

Richard  Lee,  was  one  of  the  king's  council,  and  the  first 
to  recognise  the  grants  made  by  Charles  the  Second, 
and  James  the  Second,  of  the  Northern  Neck  to  the 
Culpepper  family,  which  were  afterwards  inherited  by 
the  family  of  Fairfax. 

Thomas,  the  third  son  of  the  last  mentioned  person, 
was,  for  many  years,  president  of  the  "  King's  Council." 
He  was  one  of  the  first,  of  the  leading  men  of  the  colony, 
who  turned  their  attention  to  our  western  wilds.  Having 
employed  an  engineer  of  eminence,  from  England,  for  the 
purpose  of  exploring  them,  he,  with  many  others,  took 
up,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Ohio  Company,"  an  exten- 
sive tract  of  land  on  the  Ohio  river.  But  the  company 
never  having  obtained  a  patent  from  the  crown,  their 
title  was  made  void  by  the  revolution.  Thomas  Lee 
retained  the  office  of  president  of  the  council  until  his 
death;  and  so  great  was  the  esteem  in  which  his  services 
were  held  in  the  mother  country,  that  a  commission  of 

force,  but  yet  refusing  allegiance  to  Cromwell,  brought  the  com- 
mander of  the  squadron  to  a  treaty,  in  which  Virginia  was  styled 
an  "  independent  dominion."  This  treaty  was  ratified  in  Eng- 
land, as  made  with  an  independent  state.  While  Charles  the 
Second  was  at  Breda,  in  Flanders,  Richard  Lee  hired  a  Dutch 
ship,  and  went  over  to  the  king,  to  know  whether  he  could  pro- 
tect the  colony,  if  it  returned  to  its  allegiance  to  him  ;  but  find- 
ing no  support  could  be  obtained,  he  returned  to  Virginia,  and 
remained  qtiiet  until  the  death  of  Cromwell.  Upon  this  evenly 
he,  with  the  assistance  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  contrived  to  get 
Charles  proclaimed  **  King  of  England,  France,  Scotland,  Ireland, 
and  Virginia,"  two  years  before  he  was  restored  to  the  throne  of 
his  ancestors.  In  gratitude  for  this  loyalty,  after  the  restoration, 
Charles  ordered  the  arms  of  Virginia  to  be  added  to  those  of 
England,  France,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  with  the  motto  "En  dat 
Virginia  quintam."  After  the  union  of  England  and  Scotland, 
the  arms  of  Virginia,  were  quartered  with  those  of  England,  fc'c. 
with  the  motto  «  En  dat  Virginia  quartam."  The  author  h*s  in 
his  possession  an  oldvolume  of  Colonial  Laws  of  Virginia,  pnnted 
in  England,  in  the  titlepage  of  which  is  the  representation  of  the 
arms  of  England,  France,  Ireland,  and  Virginia  quacked,  with 
the  motto  "  En  dat  Virginia  quartam."  Hence^lhe  title  of 
*<  Ancient  Dominion"  has  been  given  to  Virginia.— ^ Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,  article  Virginia. 


OF  RICHARD  HENKY  LEE.  f 

governor  of  the  colony  had  been  made  out  for  him.  when 
news  of  his  death  reached  England.* 

The  maternal  ancestors  of  R.  H.  Lee  were  no  less 
conspicuous  fpr  their  public  services.  His  mother  was 
a  daughter  of  Colonel  Ludwell,  of  Greenspring,  near 
Williamsburg,  which  was  then  the  seat  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  colony.  Both  he  and  his  son  were  mem- 
bers of  the  king's  council,  and  his  father  had  been  governor 
of  North  Carolina. 

At  this  early  period  of  the  colony,  there  were  few 
seminaries  of  learning  in  which  the  higher  branches  of 
education  were  taught.  The  youths,  whose  parents  were 
able  to  bear  the  expense,  were  always  sent  "  home"  (as 
it  was  then  expressed)  to  England,  to  complete  their 
studies.  Accordingly,  Richard  H.  Lee,  after  having  re- 
ceived  a  grammatical  education  in  his  father's  house^ 
under  the  care  of  a  private  teacher,  was  sent  to  England, 
and  placed  at  the  academy  of  Wakefield,  in  Yorkshire 

Anecdotes  of  the  juvenile  years  of  those,  who  after 
wards  become  conspicuous  on  the  theatre  of  the  world 
when  indicative  of  character,  are  both  pleasing  and  in< 
structive.  It  is  related  of  Mr.  Lee,  that  when  a  boy, 
knowing  he  was  to  be  sent  to  England,  it  was  his  cus- 
tom to  make  a  stout  negro  boy  fight  with  him  every  day. 
To  his  angry  father's  question,  "  what  pleasure  can  you 
find  in  such  rough  sport,"  the  son  replied,  "I  shall 
shortly  have  to  box  with  the  English  boys,  and  I  do  not 
wish  to  be  beaten  by  them."  Thus,  it  might  be  said. 
Providence  had  given  him,  in  boyhood,  an  instinctive  ap- 
prehension of  the  conflict  with  that  nation,  in  which  he, 
i 

*  An  anecdote,  related  by  a  very  old  gentleman,  who  had  been 
an  intimate  acquaintance  of  Thomas  Lee,  will  put  in  a  strong 
light  his  political  foresight.  He  remembered  having  heard 
President  Lee  remark  to  one  of  his  friends,  "  that  he  had  no 
doubt  that  this  country  would  declare  itself,  in  time,  independent 
of  Great  Britain ;  and  that  the  seat  of  its  government  would  be 
located  near  the  Little  Falls  of  the  Potomac  river." — How  nearly 
he  came  to  the  fact  is  remarkable.  To  evince  the  confidence 
he  felt  in  his  views,  he  took  up  large  tracts  of  land  around  these 
Falls,  which  till  lately  were  in  the  possession  of  his  descendants. 


$  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

in  manhood,  bore  so  prominent  a  part;  and  a  spirit  of 
resistance,  which  he  afterwards  exhibited  so  successfully 
for  his  native  country,  and  so  honourably  to  himself. 

At  the  academy  of  Wakefield,  by  the  aid  of  skilful 
teachers,  and  by  his  own  attention  and  capacity,  he 
made  rapid  progress  in  the  academical  course  of  study, 
particularly  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  :  his  admi- 
ration of  the  nervous  energy  of  the  one,  and  the  grace 
and  melody  of  the  other,  exhibited,  at  an  early  age,  ma- 
turity and  correctness  of  taste.  He  returned,  about  the 
19th  year  of  his  age,  to  his  native  country,  two  years 
after  the  death  of  his  father,  which  happened  in  the  year 
1750;  and  for  some  time  resided  with  his  elder  brother. 
Although  he,  at  this  period,  passed  a  life  of  ease  and 
pleasure,  it  was  not  one  of  idleness;  active,  and  energe- 
:ic,  he  was  always  in  search  of  knowledge — and  the 
very  extensive  library  which  his  father  had  collected, 
furnished  him  ample  means  of  gratifying  his  desire  for 
intellectual  improvement.  From  the  works  of  the  im- 
nortal  Locke,  he  acquired  an  ardent  fondness  for  the 
principles  of  free  government;  and  from  those  of  Cud- 
worth,  Hooker,  Grotius,  and  other  writers  of  the  same 
class,  he  drew  maxims  of  civil  and  political  morality. 
He  read  with  deep  attention  and  admiration,  the  histo- 
ries of  the  patriotic  and  republican  ages  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  which  animated  his  love  of  his  country,  and  of 
liberty.  The  anarchy  which  too  often  disgraced  their 
governments,  taught  him  the  value  of  well  defined  con- 
stitutions, to  guard  individuals  from  the  consequences  of 
the  prejudices  of  the  many,  and  the  public  prosperity 
from  the  effects  of  popular  passion  and  caprice. 

His  taste  was  refined  by  reading  the  works  of  the 
classic  poets,  both  ancient  and  modern.  Homer,  Virgil, 
Milton,  and  Shakspeare,  were  his  favourite  authors — of 
the  last  he  was  enthusiastically  fond.  The  best/histories 
of  every  age  were  within  his  reach;  and  the  vAst  fund  of 
political  wisdom  derived  from  them,  was  strikingly  ex- 
hibited, when,  in  future  life,  he  called  for  its  use  in  the 
service  of  his  country. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  9 

Mr.  Lee,  without  any  view  to  the  practice,  made  him- 
self well  acquainted  with  the  principles  of  the  civil  law, 
and  the  laws  of  his  own  country.  He  applied  his  mind 
with  particular  care,  to  the  study  of  the  history,  and  the 
constitution,  of  England  and  her  colonies.  The  popular 
features  of  these  governments  attracted  his  admiration. 
He  was  delighted  with  ihe  free  spirit  of  the  nation  from 
which  he  was  descended. 

The  author  has  in  his  possession,  the  manuscript  di- 
gests and  synopses  of  the  works  read  by  Mr.  Lee,  during 
his  residence  with  his  brother;  they  discover  the  habits 
and  mode  of  his  study;  their  arrangement  is  new 
and  always  judicious:  the  subjects  are  well  illustrated, 
and  the  views  of  the  authors,  when  given,  are  concisely 
expressed,  and  happily  condensed.  To  this  early  mode 
of  study,  he  was,  no  doubt,  indebted  for  that  conciseness 
of  style,  of  which  he  afterwards  was  as  much  a  master, 
as  he  was  of  brilliant  and  impressive  amplification. 

Mr.  Lee  seems  early  to  have  thought  too  correctly  to 
suppose,  that  genius  can  supply  the  place  of  study,  or 
enable  its  possessor  to  dispense  with  the  labour  essential 
to  its  advantageous  prosecution.  He  must  have  been 
conscious  of  the  quickness  and  capacity  of  his  mind; 
but  vanity  did  not  delude  him  with  the  absurd  idea,  that 
knowledge  is  intuitive.  He  believed  the  import  of  the 
adage  "  veritas  in  puteo,"  and  he  laboured  to  find  it, 
He  did  not,  however,  devote  himself  exclusively  to  stud^, 
he  mingled  cheerfully  in  society,  and  transacted  the  va- 
rious business  of  life  with  diligence  and  judgment.  He 
was  early  remarked  for  the  accuracy  with  which  he  con- 
ducted his  concerns.  Hence  he  was  frequently,  when 
comparatively  a  young  man,  selected  as  guardian  to  in- 
fant children  of  his  relatives  and  friends.  In  one  of  his 
letters  to  a  gentleman  in  England,  to  whom  he  was  about 
to  commit  the  care  and  education  of  some  of  his  wards, 
there  is  a  passage,  worthy  of  a  place  here,  since  it 
contains  some  reflections  on  the  course  of  education,  as 
applicable  now,  as  when  they  were  written  :  "  I  have  no 
doubt  that  your  good  sense  will  avoid  the  too  common 

VOL.  i. — B 


JO  •      LIPJB-AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

error  of  early  plunging  boys  into  the  study  of  ancient 
and  other  languages,  before  they  have  acquired  a  com- 
petent knowledge  of  their  own.  By  which  mistake  it 
is,  that  so  many  who  are  learned  in  the  languages  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  remain  unable  to  write  their  own 
with  correctness,  and  still  less,  to  read  and  speak  it  with 
grace  arid  propriety.  To  avoid  this,  and  far  the  still 
greater  benefits  of  having  their  minds  early  impressed 
with  a  love  of  religion  and  virtue,  are  the  principal  rea- 
sons that  induce  me  to  prefer  private  education  for  some 
time,  to  public." 

The  manners  of  Mr.  Lee  were,  in  the  highest  degree, 
affable  and  polite.  The  candour  and  disinterestedness 
of  his  character,  could  not  fail  to  strike  every  person 
who  had  the  slightest  acquaintance  with  him — entirely 
devoid  of  all  pride  and  guile,  he  became  very  popular, 
immediately  upon  his  entering  into  the  active  scenes  of 
life. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  famous  seven  years5  war,  as 
it  is  called  by  historians,  was  not  confined  to  the  Euro- 
pean dominions  of  the  two  principal  and  rival  nations 
engaged  in  it.  The  colonies  of  France  and  England,  in 
North  America,  were  involved  in  its  bloody  and  de- 
structive consequences.  Our  frontier  settlements  suf- 
fered continually  and  severely,  from  the  predatory  incur- 
sions of  the  Indians  employed  by  France  in  Canada,  and 
along  the  Ohio  river.  In  1755,  England  became  con- 
vinced, that  the  colonies  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania, 
could  not  longer,  without  her  aid,  effectually  resist  the 
irruptions  of  their  horrid  enemies.  She  therefore  sent, 
under  the  command  of  general  Braddock,  a  body  of  re- 
gular troops,  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  frontiers 
of  those  colonies.  The  cruel  murders  committed  in  the 
preceding  year  by  the  Indians,  in  the  valley,  between  the 
Blue  Ridge  and  North  Mountains  in  Virginia,  had  excited 
the  indignation  of  the  people  of  the  low  counties  of 
that  colony.  Upon  the  arrival  of  general  Braddock, 
volunteer  companies  of  milifia  were  raised,  which  offer- 
ed their  services  to  march  with  the  regular  army.  By  a 
volunteer  company  of  his  native  county,  Mr.  Lee 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 


11 


chosen  captain.  As  soon  as  it  had  put  itself  under  his 
command,  he  marched  to  Alexandria,  on  the  Potomac, 
where  the  regular  army  had  landed.  Upon  his  arrival 
at  that  place,  he  was  much  chagrined  to  find,  that  their 
services  would  not  be  accepted  by  Braddock — that,  with 
his  companions  in  arms,  he  must  return  to  his  home, 
without  an  opportunity  of  serving  his  country. 

The  following  circumstance,  which  happened  at 
Alexandria,  may  serve  to  show  the  coarse  and  rude 
manners  of  General  Braddock,  and  his  haughtiness 
towards  provincials,  to  which  may  be  attributed  his 
subsequent  defeat  and  death.  Mr.  Lee  had  walked  down 
to  the  shore,  with  General  Braddock  and  some  of  his 
officers,  where  a  boat  was  in  readiness  to  convey  them 
to  the  commodore's  ship.  When  his  officers  were 
on  board,  although  he  saw  Mr.  Lee  standing  on  the 
shore,  General  Braddock  ordered  the  men  to  push  off; 
but  the  commodore,  afterwards  the  celebrated  admiral 
Keppel,  observing  this,  sternly  ordered  them  to  stop,  and 
invited  Mr.  Lee  into  the  boat,  in  which  he  accompanied 
them  to  the  ship. 

Mr.  Lee  may  be  said  to  have  inherited  a  love  of  pub- 
lic life.  Most  of  his  ancestors  had  devoted  the  greater 
part  of  their  lives,  to  the  public  service,  in  posts  of  ho- 
nour. They  had  shown  themselves  men  of  business,  as 
well  as  of  capacity.  His  father  had  been  remarkable 
for  an  indefatigable  application  to  public  business;  and 
the  character  of  his  father,  no  doubt,  had  its  influence 
in  the  formation  of  the  habits  of  his  son.  He  was 
appointed  about  the  twenty -fifth  year  of  his  age,  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  for  his  native  county.  This  office  was, 
at  that  period  of  the  colony,  of  much  greater  importance 
than  it  is  at  present,  and  the  appointment  was  reserved 
for  men  of  the  greatest  purity  of  character,  and  gene- 
rally conferred  on  those,  whose  judgments  were  matured 
by  age.  A  magistrate  in  Virginia,  performs  not  only 
acts  of  police,  but  is,  'ex-officio,  a  constituent  part  of  the 
county  court,  the  jurisdiction  of  which,  as  a  court  of 
common  law  and  equity,  was  then  unlimited.  At  that 


12  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

period,  suits  of  the  highest  grade,  and  of  the  greatest 
importance,  were  brought  in  the  county  courts.  In 
this  office,  Mr.  Lee  was  active  and  diligent.  He  punc- 
tually attended  in  court;  and  with  unwearied  patience, 
went  through  its  most  uninteresting  business.  A  copy 
is  found  among  Mr.  Lee's  manuscripts,  .of  a  petition 
signed  by  several  magistrates  to  the  governor  and  coun- 
cil, praying  that  Mr.  Lee's  commission  might  be  so 
dated,  that  he  could  act  as  president  of  the  court, 
and  be  allowed  precedence  in  this  respect,  at  an  earlier 
period,  than  his  appointment  legally  permitted. 

He  was,  in  this  year,  elected  a  member  from  Westmore- 
land, to  the  House  of  Burgesses,  and  from  this  time, 
till  his  death,  a  period  of  thirty  three  years,  enjoyed  the 
unabated  favour  and  confidence,  not  only  of  the  citi- 
zens of  his  native  county,  but  of  the  state  of  Virginia. 
During  the  first  years,  of  Mr.  Lee's  service  in  the  House 
of  Burgesses,  he  had  to  struggle  against  a  diffidence, 
which,  he  began  to  despair,  of  ever  being  able  to  con- 
quer. It  was  Jong  before  he  could  be  induced  to  trast 
himself  to  the  contingencies  of  extemporaneous  discus- 
sion. He,  however,  did  not  suffer  the  time  to  pass 
without  improvement.  He  made  himself  master  of  the 
.various  forms,  according  to  which,  legislative  bodies 
proceed  in  the  transaction  of  business;  and,  acquired 
an  extensive  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  interests, 
and  financial  concerns  of  the  colony.  An  incident,  at 
that  time,  of  importance  to  the  colony,  which  will  pre- 
sently be  related,  at  length,  occurred  to  arouse  him;  and 
he  distinguished  himself  by  an  ability  and  eloquence, 
which  placed  him  at  once,  among  tlje  first  members  of 
ithe  body  to  which  he  belonged. 

Previous  to  this  epoch  in  his  life,  Mr.  Lee  having 
become  much  dissatisfied  with  several  measures  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  and  believing  that  he  could  more 
effectually  serve  his  country  in  some  other  station, 
applied  through  his  friends  in  London,  for  a  seat  in  the 
.council.  Some  of  his  letters  are  here  inserted,  which 
abound  in  sentiments  ingenuous,  dignified,  and  patriotic, 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  13 

The  manner  in  which  he  confutes  the  objection,  that 
one  of  his  brothers  was  a  member  of  the  council,  can- 
not fail  to  gratify  every  reader  of  sensibility. 

WESTMORELAND,  VA. 

ArocsT,  27, 1762. 

SIR — The  acquaintance,  I  had  the  honour,  to  form 
with  you  when  1  was  in  London,  in  the  year  '51,  will,  I 
hope  excuse  me  to  you,  for  the  freedom  of  this  letter. 
When  I  consider  the  weight  you  deservedly  possess,  in 
affairs  relative  to  this  colony,  I  know  not  any  person 
to  whom  I  can,  with  more  propriety,  apply  for  an  appli- 
cation in  my  behalf,  that  I  may  be  appointed  to  fill  the 
next  vacancy  in  his  majesty's  council.  I  am  the  more 
induced  to  an  application,  at  this  time,  as  I  am  informed, 
that  an  address  is  preparing  by  the  council,  to  his  ma- 
jesty, to  remove  Mr. from  their  board,  on  account 

of  his  extreme  incapacity,  to  discharge  the  important 
duties  of  that  station.  If  that  address  succeed,  as  I 
should  imagine  it  would,  from  the  weighty  reasons  as- 
signed in  it,  then  sir,  I  would  lay  myself  under  the  great 
obligation  that  will  arise  from  your  interposition  in  my 
behalf:  an  obligation  which  will  ever  influence  me,  to 
consider  you  as  my  great  benefactor,  and  particular 
friend.  The  desire  I  have  to  do  my  country  service,  is 
my  only  motive  for  this  solicitation;  and  governed  by 
the  same  reason,  my  attention  has  been,  for  some  time 
turned  to  public  business,  both  as  a  member  of  the  le- 
gislature, and  of  our  inferior  courts  of  Justice.  This 
experience  supported  by  a  laudable  ambition,  will,  I  hope, 
render  me  an  object  not  altogether  unworthy  of  your 
patronage. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  great  respect  and  es- 
teem, your  obedient  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE 

To  JAMES  ABEHCROMBIE,  Esq. 

In  Craven  street,  London. 


14  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


WESTMORELAND,  VA. 

AUGUST,  27,  1762. 

DEAR  SIR — I  wrote  to  you  a   few  days   ago,  that 
the  council  of  this  colony,  had  unanimously  addressed 

his  majesty  to  remove  from  their  board  Mr. •,  the 

last  appointed  counsellor,  on  account  of  his  incapacity. 
If  this  address  succeed,  I  entreat  the  favour  of  you,  to 
exert  your  friendship  that  I  might  be  appointed  in  Mr. 
-'s  place.  If  an  ardent  desire  to  serve  my  country, 
added  to  considerable  time  and  application,  already  em- 
ployed in  the  service  of  the  public,  are  to  be  considered 
in  this  appointment,  you  may  safely  declare  yourself  my 
friend.  I  shall  say  nothing  of  the  abilities  of  the  gen- 
tleman, who,  I  understand,  has  a  probability  of  filling 
the  next  vacancy,  from  the  chance  he  stood  last;  because, 
as  you  know  him,  this  would  be  unnecessary;  and  be- 
cause I  think  it  not  proper,  to  establish  my  success,  by 
making  invidious  observations  on  another.  But  in  his 
favour,  it  is  urged,  that  his  contiguity  to  the  seat  of  go- 
vernment, renders  his  appointment  proper,  as  on  govern- 
ment contingencies,  his  attendance  in  council  could  be 
presently  obtained.  If  this  argument,  independent  of 
any  auxiliary  one,  was  to  be  admitted,  might  not  a  cob- 
bler in  the  city  dispute  the  point  ivith  him?  Less  weight 
will  be  found  in  this  reason,  when  you  consider  that 
those  who  compose  our  council,  meet  four  times  a  year 
of  course,  to  constitute  the  general  and  oyer  courts; 
when  they  sit,  on  the  whole,  more  than  two  months,  be- 
sides the  frequent  meetings  of  the  general  assembly. 
At  these  times  it  is,  that  council  business  is  chiefly  dis- 
cussed. If,  in  the  intermediate  time,  any  contingency 
render  a  council  necessary,  there  are  always  six  or 
seven  of  the  board,  whose  situation  admits  of  a  very 
speedy  meeting.  But  in  a  variety  of  instances,  it  may 
happen,  that  a  dispersion  of  the  councillors  through  the 
several  parts  of  the  colony,  will  be  attended  with  advan- 
tageous consequences,  by  their  having  a  more  minute 


OF  RICHARD  HENR\'  LEE,  ]5 

and  particular  acquaintance  with  the  circumstances  of 
the  country. 

Against  my  success,  I  hear  it  is  urged  that  I  have  a 
brother  already  in  the  council.  This  is  true;  but  can 
any  solid  reason  be  assigned,  why  this  friendly  connex- 
ion should  banish  virtue  and  morality  from  the  breasts 
of  brothers?  or  does  it  follow,  of  course,  that  those  thus 
allied,  should,  to  promote  any  views  they  may  be  sup- 
posed to  have,  unite  to  injure  their  country,  and  so  found 
their  brotherly  union  on  the  destruction  of  honour,  duty, 
and  public  good?  For  my  part,  I  think  the  objection 
does  not  hold  in  theory;  and,  exclusive  of  the  many  his- 
toric proofs  that  might  be  adduced  to  confute  it,  we  have 
a  familiar  experience  here,  of  two  brothers  having  long 
sat  together  in  the  council,  to  the  honour  of  his  ma- 
jesty, and  to  the  interests  of  the  colony. 

To  whom,  my  dear  sir,  can  you  apply  with  so  much 
effect,  as  to  your  noble  friend  Lord  Halifax,  since  a 
word  from  him  would  accomplish  the  object;  and  then 
"  the  honour  of  the  appointment  would  be  enhanced,  by 
its  being  the  direction  of  a  person  so  universally  admired 
for  the  honesty  of  his  heart  and  the  ability  of  his  head. 
I  know  you  will  excuse  the  length  of  this  letter.  With 
great  sincerity,  I  assure  you  of  the  unabated  esteem  of 
your  affectionate  friend, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

To  THOMAS  CTTMMIKGS,  Esq. 
in  London. 

In  another  letter,  on  the  same  subject,  he  again  con- 
tests the  force  of  the  objection  to  his  appointment,  that 
his  brother  was  a  member.  He  happily  diversifies  the 
argument,  and  exhibits  a  mind  rich  in  sentiment.  "  I 
hear  (he  writes)  it  is  objected  to  me  that  I  have  a  brother 
already  in  the  council.  It  is  very  true,  I  have;  but  can- 
didly considered,  how  unimportant  is  this  objection,  nay, 
how  invidious  is  it,  since  the  only  force  it  can  possibly 
have,  must  be  derived  from  a  previously  established  want 
of  virtue  in  the  brothers,  which  may  lead  them  to  coa- 
lesce in  schemes  destructive  of  their  country.  For  if 


Jg  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

honesty  mark  their  character,  no  leagues  of  vice  will 
ever  be  entered  on,  and  an  union  in  virtue  can  never  be 
improper.  But  a  vicious  person  should  never  be  pre- 
ferred, whatever  may  be  his  relation  to,  or  disunion  with 
the  rest  of  his  companions  in  office.  If  this  strange  ob- 
jection should  be  urged,  how  easily  could  your  genius 
and  penetration  thoroughly  overcome  it;v  &c. 


OF  RICHARD  HF.XItt 


CHAPTER  II. 

IT  has  been  stated  that  Mr.  Lee,  at  an  early  period  of 
his  life,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses 
of  Virginia;  and  that  probably,  more  than  one  session 
passed,  without  any  participation,  on  his  part,  in  the  de- 
bates. The  natural  diffidence  of  his  character  was  in- 
creased by  the  respect  and  deference  he  entertained,  for 
men  of  ability  and  experience,  and  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, at  this  time,  contained  many  men  of  this  descrip- 
tion. The  first  speech  of  Mr.  Lee,  as  far  as  can  be  as- 
certained, was  on  a  motion  "  to  lay  so  heavy  a  duty  on  the 
importation  of  slaves,  as  effectually  to  put  an  end  to  that 
iniquitous  and  disgraceful  traffic  within  the  colony  of 
Virginia."  The  lively  interest  which  he  felt  in  the  suc- 
cess of  the  motion,  incited  him  to  exert  all  his  powers 
in  its  support.  The  timidity,  however,  with  which  he 
took  part  in  the  debate,  may  be  perceived  from  the  bre- 
vity and  care  with  which  he  prepared  his  speech.  Al- 
though short,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  contains  the  germ  of 
every  sound  argument,  which  has  been  since  unfolded, 
against  the  immoral  character,  the  practical  barbarities, 
and  the  political  consequences  of  the  slave  trade.  How 
different  would  have  been  the  actual  condition  and  the 
prospects  of  Virginia,  had  his  arguments  prevailed,  and 
the  policy  which  he  recommended  been  adopted  and  en- 
forced. 

u  Sir,  as  the  consequences  of  the  determination  we 
must  make  in  the  subject  of  this  day's  debate  will  greatly 
affect  posterity,  as  well  as  ourselves,  it  surely  merits  our 
most  serious  attention.  And  well  am  I  persuaded,  sir, 
that  if  it  be  so  considered,  it  will  appear,  both  from  rea- 
son and  experience,  that  the  importation  of  slaves  into 
this  colony  has  been,  and  will  be  attended  with  effects, 

VOL.  i. — c 


18 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


dangerous,  both  to  our  political  and  moral  interests. 
When  it  is  observed  that  some  of  our  neighbouring  co- 
lonies, though  much  later  than  ourselves  in  point  of  set- 
tlement, are  now  far  before  us  in  improvement,  to  what, 
sir,  can  we  attribute  this  strange,  this  unhappy  truth? 
The  reason  seems  to  be  \\\is:  Jhat  with  their  whites  they 
import  arts  and  agriculture,  ivhilst  ire,  with  our  blacks, 
exclude  both.  Nature  has  not  partially  favoured  them 
with  superiour  fertility  of  soil,  nor  do  they  enjoy  more 
of  the  sun's  cheering  and  enlivening  influence;  yet  greatly 
have  they  outstrip*  us. 

"  Were  not  this  sufficient,  sir,  let  us  reflect  on  our 
dangerous  vicinity  to  a  powerful  neighbour,  and  that 
^slaves,  from  the  nature  of  their  situation,  can  never  feel 
an  interest  in  our  cause,  because  they  see  us  enjoying 
every  privilege  and  luxury,  and  find  security  established, 
not  for  them,  but  for  others,  and  because  they  observe 
their  masters  possessed  of  liberty  which  is  denied  to 
them,  whilst  they  and  their  posterity  are  subjected  for 
ever  to  the  most  abject  and  mortifying  slavery.  Such 
a  people  must  be  natural  enemies  to  society,  and  their 
increase  consequently  dangerous. 
"  "This  reasoning  we  find  verified  in  the  Grecian  and 
Roman  histories,  where  some  of  the  greatest  convulsions 
recorded,  were  occasioned  by  the  insurrections  of  their 
slaves;  insomuch,  says  a  Roman  historian,  that  Sicily 
was  more  cruelly  laid  waste  by  the  war  with  the  slaves, 
than  by  that  with  the  Carthagenians.  This  slavish  po- 
licy still  continuing  at  Rome,  at  length  increased  their 
slaves  to  such  a  prodigious  number,  as  obliged  the  Ro- 
mans to  make  laws  for  their  government  so  severe, 
that  the  bare  relation  of  them  is  shocking  to  human 
nature. 

<c  Nor,  sir,  are  these  the  only  reasons  to  be  urged 
against  the  importation.  In  my  opinion,  not  the  cruel- 
ties practised  in  the  conquest  of  Spanish  America,  not 
the  savage  barbarity  of  a  Saracen,  can  be  more  big  with 
atrocity,  than  our  cruel  trade  to  Africa.  There  we  en- 
courage those  poor,  ignorant  peQple,  to  wage  eternal  war 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  ]9 

against  each  other;  not  nation  against  nation,  but  father 
against  son,  children  against  parents,  and  brothers  against 
brothers,  whereby  parental,  filial,  and  fraternal  duty  is 
terribly  violated;  that  by  war,  stealth,  or  surprise,  we 
Christians  may  be  furnished  with  our  fellow-creatures, 
who  are  no  longer  to  be  considered  as  created  in  the 
image  of  God  as  well  as  ourselves,  and  equally  entitled 
to  liberty  and  freedom  by  the  great  law  of  nature,  but 
they  are  to  be  deprived,  for  ever  deprived,  of  all  the 
comforts  of  life,  and  to  be  made  the  most  wretched  of 
the  human  kind.  I  have  seen  it  observed  by  a  great 
writer,  that  Christianity,  by  introducing  into  Europe  the 
truest  principles  of  humanity,  universal  benevolence,  and 
brotherly  love,  had  happily  abolished  civil  slavery.  Let 
us,  who  profess  the  same  religion,  practise  its  precepts; 
and  by  agreeing  to  this  duty,  convince  the  world  that  we 
know  and  practise  our  true  interests,  and  that  we  pay  a 
proper  regard  to  the  dictates  of  justice  and  humanity!" 

This  speech  gained  for  Mr.  Lee  some  applause;  but 
it  did  not  procure  for  him  that  decided  reputation  and 
popularity,  which  he  soon  afterwards  enjoyed.  An  oc- 
casion at  length  occurred,  which  related  more  immedi- 
ately to  the  politics  of  the  house,  and  on  which  the  feel- 
ings of  a  brother  had  been,  as  Mr.  Lee  thought,  unjus- 
tifiably wounded.  Affection  for  his  brother,  and  indig- 
nation at  the  unworthy  conduct  and  unfair  treatment 
which  he  had  received,  fired  Mr.  Lee;  and  calling  forth, 
into  vigorous  exercise,  the  latent  powers  of  his  intellect, 
discovered  to  his  fellow  citizens,  inexhaustible  sources 
of  a  rich,  brilliant  and  energetic  eloquence. 

To  enable  the  reader  to  catch  something  of  the  spirit 
of  the  transaction  about  to  be  recorded,  a  short  account 
of  the  parties  of  that  time,  may  be  necessary.  Two 
parties  divided  the  House  of  Burgesses.  These  were 
strongly  marked;  and  the  spirit  of  their  politics  was 
widely  different.  Although  they  could  not  be  correctly 
called  u  whig  and  tory,"  they  might  be  termed  aristo- 
cratic and  republican.  The  society  of  Virginia  was  then 
generally  and  obviously  divided  into  two  classes;  the  one 


OQ  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

was  constituted  of  men  who  owned  large  landed  estates, 
cultivated  by  bodies  of  slaves;  the  other,  of  the  solid  and 
independent  yeomanry.  They  were  equally  distinct  from 
each  other  in  their  manners  and  customs.  The  former 
lived  in  great  splendour  and  luxury,  and  imitating  in 
their  mode  of  life,  the  nobility  of  England,  they  possess- 
ed, no  doubt,  much  of  the  spirit  of  aristocracy.  Be- 
tween this  and  the  latter  class,  there  was  little  or  no  in- 
tercourse.* The  members  of  the  assembly  carried  into 
that  body,  the  manners  and  feelings  of  the  class,  in  which 
their  birth  or  their  wealth,  had  placed  them.  The  aris- 
tocratic members  looked  down  upon  those,  who  came 
from  the  lower  orders,  as  they  termed  them,  while  these 
looked  upon  the  others  with  jealousy  and  dislike.  The 
more  intelligent  members  of  the  republican  party,  view- 
ed the  •'  aristocrats"  with  a  sort  of  political  abhorrence, 
as  enemies  to  the  popular  features  of  the  constitution. 
Mr.  Lee,  from  the  convictions  of  reason,  and  from  the 
bias  of  education  and  reading,  was  a  firm  and  ardent 
member  of  the  republican  party.f  He  was  an  admirer, 
and  called  himself  a  disciple  of  Hampden,  and  Sydney, 
and  Pel  ham. 

In  this  state  of  the  two  parties  in  the  legislature,  the 
republican  members  determined  to  bring  forward  a 
measure,  for  the  success  of  which  they  felt  great  anx- 
iety. Mr.  Thomas  Lee,  an  elder  brother  of  Mr.  Lee, 
who  was  also  a  member  of  the  house,  and  attached  to 
the  popular  party,  was  selected  to  introduce  a  resolution 
on  the  subject.  This  gentleman,  though  accustomed  to 
speak,  was  still  oppressed  by  that  diffidence  and  embar- 
rassment, which  had  hitherto  repressed  the  genius  of 
his  brother.  Urged  however,  by  the  zeal  of  his  party, 
and  probably  by  the  intrinsic  merit  of  the  measure  he 
was  about  to  propose,  his  introductory  speech  was  one 
of  great  strength.  But  he  had  forgotten,  that  the  rules 

*  See  Life  of  P.  Henry,  p.  33,  &c. 

t  The  word  "  republican,"  is  here  used  in  the  sense  in  which 
n  might  be  applied  to  Cimon,  or  to  Cato. 


OP  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  21 

of  the  house  required,  that  every  motion  should  be  re- 
duced to  writing,  before  it  could  be  put  from  the  chair. 
The  speaker  of  the  house,  who  was  the  head  of  the 
opposite  party,  availed  himself  of  this  oversight,  and  re- 
minded Mr.  Lee,  with  great  asperity,  of  the  rule,  and 
the  violation  of  it,  of  which  he  had  been  guilty.  Mr. 
Lee  was  so  confounded  by  the  manner  of  the  speaker, 
that  he  was  utterly  unable  to  retrieve  the  consequences 
of  his  mistake,  or  to  take  advantage  of  the  impression 
which  his  speech  had  evidently  made.  The  hopes  of  the 
opposition,  who  perceived  the  confusion  of  their  cham- 
pion began  to  fall,  and  despair,  at  length,  was  spreading 
among  them,  when,  to  their  surprise,  R.  H.  Lee,  stung 
with  resentment  at  the  manner  in  which  his  brother  had 
been  treated,  arose  with  a  written  motion,  and  prefaced 
it  with  a  bold  and  brilliant  speech.  His  political  friends 
exhibited  at  once  astonishment  and  delight,  while  his 
adversaries  were  confounded — he  became  from  that 
time  the  darling  of  his  party.  His  knowledge  of  busi- 
ness and  application  to  it,  his  information  on  all  subjects 
before  the  house,  and  his  conciliating  manners,  now 
speedily  constituted  him  the  leader  of  his  party,  and  a 
prominent  and  useful  member  of  the  legislature.  Mr. 
Thomas  Lee  could  never  afterwards  be  prevailed  on  to 
speak.  Hence,  it  was  remarked  at  the  time,  that  the 
incident  which  had  destroyed  one  orator,  had  raised  up 
another. 

The  next  occasion  upon  which  Mr.  Lee  distinguished 
himself  as  an  useful,  intrepid  and  patriotic  member,  was 
one  of  real  importance  to  the  colony.  Mr.  Robinson, 
who,  from  his  family  and  wealth,  was  at  the  head  of  the 
aristocratic  party,  united  in  his  person  the  offices  ol 
speaker  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  and  treasurer  of  the 
colony.  The  latter  office  was  in  the  gift  of  the  crown, 
and  those  who  held  it  had  always  been  obsequious  to  the 
court.  Such  was  the  case  with  Mr.  Robinson.  Pos- 
sessed of  great  wealth,  and  high  in  official  dignity,  and 
being  besides  a  person  of  an  unassuming  air,  and  po- 
liteness of  manners,  and  of  a  great  amiableness  of  na- 


22  ^FE  AftD  CORRESPONDENCE 

ture,  he  was  the  most  popular  man  of  his  party,  and  was 
personally  much  beloved.  As  a  politician  and  legislator, 
he  was  a  known  "  aristocrat" — yet  many  members  of 
the  republican  party  were  in  habits  of  friendly  inter- 
course with  him,  and  esteemed  him  as  a  man  while  they 
opposed  him,  and  the  measures  of  his  political  friends. 
The  colony  of  Virginia  had  contracted  large  debts, 
by  its  exertions  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars,  which 
had  desolated  its  western  frontiers.  It  had  been  com- 
pelled to  anticipate  its  revenue,  and  to  borrow  consider- 
able sums  of  money.  To  repay  these  loans,  it  had  issued 
government  paper,  redeemable,  in  each  year,  to  a  certain 
unount,  by  taxes  pledged  for  the  purpose.  It  was  made 
be  duty  of  the  treasurer,  to  burn  the  bills  which  should 
)e  annually  called  in.  The  treasurer  had  been  liberal  of 
lis  private  funds  to  his  friends,  whose  style  of  living 
•equired  larger  expenditures,  than  their  estates  yielded. 
tVhen  these  were  exhausted,  he  had  been  induced  to 
end  to  many  members  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  the 
government  bills  which  had  been  redeemed,  and  ought 
o  have  been  destroyed.  It  is  said,  that  he  relied  on 
his  own  means*  to  prevent  any  ultimate  injury  to  the 
stale,  and  upon  the  security  he  had  taken.  The  fact, 
that  the  treasurer  had  made  an  improper  use  of  the 
money  of  the  public,  became  known;  or,  at  least,  strong 
suspicions,  were  entertained  on  the  subject.  These 
suspicions  gave  rise  to  conversations  among  the  opposi- 
tion party;  and,  it  was  in  agitation,  to  move  an  inquiry 
into  the  grounds  of  them.  The  considerations,  that 
the  speaker  was  individually  concerned  in  the  inquiry 
contemplated;  that  the  interests  of  the  colony  were  in- 
volved in  it;  that  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  influential 
men  in  the  house,  were  the  intimate  friends  of  the 
speaker,  and  that  a  failure  to  prove  his  defalcation,  no 
matter  from  what  cause,  would  be  represented  as  the 
just  result  of  a  malignant  attack  on  him,  made  it  a  deli- 
cate and  fearful  task,  to  move  the  inquiry.  Great  indeci- 
sion and  backwardness  were  evinced.  Mr.  Lee,  as  soon 
as  he  had  satisfied  his  mind  that  there  were  grounds  upon 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  23 

which  to  rest  the  suspicions,  determined  to  brave  every 
risk,  and  to  assert  the  justice  and  necessity,  of  bringing 
delinquents  to  punishment.  To  his  mind,  their  exaltation 
and  influence,  offered  no  just  exception  to  the  rigid  appli- 
cation of  these  principles.  The  difficulties  he  would  have 
to  encounter,  in  the  present  cause,  served  only  to  stimulate 
his  firm  and  adventurous  spirit.    Accordingly,  he  moved 
"  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  state 
of  the  treasury."'     As  soon  as  the  government  partly 
perceived  what  subject  Mr.  Lee  was  about  to  agitate, 
they  discovered  symptoms  of  alarm,  and  prepared  for 
a  strenuous  resistance.     The  speaker  fixt  his  eyes  with 
a  dark  and  terrible  frown  upon  Mr.  Lee.  The  members 
opposed  to  his  motion,  turned  their  faces  from  him,  with 
haughty  and  disdainful  airs:  but,  these  things  had  no 
other  effect,  than  to  animate  Mr.  Lee  to  strains  of  in- 
dignant eloquence.     The  most  able  and  influential  mem- 
bers of  the  house,  opposed  his  motion,  yet,  he  refuted 
with  great  force,  all  objections  to  the  inquiry,  and  seem- 
ed to  gain  strength  and  ardour,  from  the  very  mean? 
taken  to  defeat  it/The  resolution  was  finally  adopted;  then 
pursuing  his  success,  he  brought  the  business  to  a  close, 
which  promised  to  save  the  colony  from  great  fiscd 
embarrassment,  and  the  people  from  additional  burden*. 
This  achievement  of  Mr.  Lee,  added  greatly  to  his  reputa- 
tion throughout  the  colony.  The  author  has  found  amocg 
the  manuscripts  of  Mr.  Lee,  a  letter  from  a  gentleman 
of  a  distant  county  of  the  colony,  and  not  personally 
acquainted  with  him,  complimenting  him  on  the  part  he 
had  acted,  and  thanking  him,  for  the  good  he  had  done 
to  his  fellow  citizens. 

A  state  of  things  was  now  commencing,  which  was 
to  abolish  all  party  distinctions  in  the  colony  of  Virginia; 
to  afford  an  occasion  for  the  exercise  of  the  highest 
talents,  and  the  noblest  virtues,  and  to  lead  to  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States. 

England  had  just  concluded  the  peace  of  Paris,  which 
was  preceded  by  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  bloody 
wars,  that  had  ever  desolated  civilized  Europe.  She 


24  LIFE  AND  CORUKSPOKDKNCfi 

had  come  out  of  it,  covered  with  glory;  her  troops  had 
fought,  and  conquered,  in  almost  every  quarter  of  the 
globe;  her  statesmen  were  renowned;  and  the  boldness 
and  energy  of  the  illustrious  Pitt,  had  placed  her  first 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.     The  fame  of  her  pre- 
mier was  co-extensive  with  the  glory  of  the  "  Great" 
Frederick,*    The  humbled  house  of  Bourbon,  in  all  its 
branches,  owned  her  triumphs.     But  it  seems  a  wise 
ordination  of  Providence,  that  national  glory  gained  in 
fields  of  blood  and  conquest,  is,  in  almost  every  instance, 
connected  with  domestic  embarrassment  and  suffering. 
Such  was  the  case  with  England.     When  the  splendid 
halo  had  flitted  from  the  vision  of  her  people,  they  found 
themselves  loaded  with  debt.  Their  statesmen  were  anxi- 
ously looked  to  for  relief;  but  they  in  vain  perplexed  them- 
selves to  discover  any  sufficiently  productive  source  of 
revenue,  to  meet  the  difficulties,  in  which,  the  finances 
of  the  country   were  involved.     Notwithstanding  this 
state  of  the  treasury,  the  ministry,  which  had  come  into 
power  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  unaccountably 
determined  to  raise  twenty  new  regiments.     That  pro- 
found statesman  and  celebrated  orator  Edmund  Burke, 
gives  this  account  of  that  measure,  which  first  turned 
the  eyes  of  English  financiers,  to  the  colonies.^     "At 
that  period  (at  the  close  of  the  war,)  the  necessity  was 
established  of  keeping  up  no  less  than  twenty  new  regi- 
ments, with  twenty  colonels  capable  of  seats  in  this 
hoise.     This  scheme  was  adopted  with  very  general 
applause  from  all  sides,  at  the  very  time,  when  by  your 
conquest  in  America,  your  danger  from  foreign  attempts 
in  that  quarter  of  the  world  was  much  lessened,  or,  in- 
deed, quite  over.     When  this  huge  increase  of  military 

*  The  author  cannot  apply  this  appellation  to  Frederick  the 
Second  of  Prussia,  without  expressing  the  limitation,  in  this  in- 
stance attached  to  it.  As  a  victorious  warrior,  and  as  an  acute 
statesman,  he  certainly  merits  the  appellation  of  "  Great."  But 
the  author  can  scarcely  find  language  to  express  the  detestation, 
in  which  he  holds  his  character,  as  a  man  and  a  ruler. 

t  In  his  masterly  speech  on  American  taxation. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  gfr 

establishment  was  resolved  on,  a  revenue  was  to  be  found 
to  support  so  great  a  burden.  Country  gentlemen,  the 
great  patrons  of  economy,  and  resisters  of  standing 
armies,  would  not  have  entered  with  so  much  alacrity 
into  a  vote  for  so  large  and  expensive  an  army,  if  they 
had  been  sure,  that  they  were  to  continue  to  pay  for  it. 
But  hopes  of  another  kind,  were  held  out  to  them;  and 
in  particular,  I  well  remember,  that  Mr.  Townsend,  in  a 
brilliant  harangue  on  this  subject,  did  dazzle  them  by 
laying  before  their  eyes  the  image  of  a  revenue  to  be 
raised  in  America.  Here  began  to  dawn  the  first  glim- 
merings of  this  new  colony  system." 

The  same  great  statesman  thus  exhibits  the  develop- 
ment of  the  principle  assumed  by  the  ministry,  and  so 
blindly  followed  by  the   Parliament  of  Great  Britain, 
"that  the  mother  country  had  a  right  to  tax  America, 
without  her  consent."     "  But  the  grand  manoeuvre  in 
that  business  of  new  regulating  the  colonies,  was  the 
fifteenth  act  of  the  fourth  of  George  the  Third,  which, 
besides  containing  several  of  the  matters  to  which  I 
alluded,  opened  a  new  principle;  and  here  properly  be- 
gan the  second  period  of  the  policy  of  this  country  with 
regard  to  the  colonies,  by  which  a  scheme  of  regular 
plantation  parliamentary  revenue,  was  adopted  in  theory, 
and  settled  in  practice.     This  act,  sir,  had  for  the  first 
time,  the  title  of  'giving  and  granting'  duties  in  the  co- 
lonies and  plantations  in  America;  and  for  the  first  time, 
it  was  asserted  in  the  preamble,  '  that  it  was  just  and 
necessary,  that  a  revenue  should  be  raised  there/     Then 
come  the  technical  words  of  '  giving  and  granting/  and 
thus  a  complete  American  revenue  act  was  made,  in  all 
the  forms,  and  with  a  full  avowal  of  the  equity,  policy, 
and  even  the  necessity  of  taxing  the  colonies,  without 
any  formal  consent  of  theirs.     There  were  contained 
also  in  the  preamble  to  that  act,  these  very  remarkable 
words,   'the  Commons  being   desirous  to  make  some 
provision  towards  raising  the  said  revenue/     By  these 
words,  it  appeared  to  the  colonies,  that  this  act  was  only 

VOL.  i. — D 


2 ft  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

the  beginning  of  sorrows,  &c.  This  ill  prospect  appeared 
boundless  in  extent  and  endless  in  duration/' 

The  15th  act  of  4  Geo.  III.,  of  which  Mr.  Burke 
speaks,  was  the  act  which  announced  the  determination 
of  Parliament  to  tax  America,  and  preceded  the  famous 
stamp  act,  the  principle  of  which  the  colonies  denied, 
and  the  practical  operation  of  which  they  finally  resisted, 

In  March,  1764,  as  every  reader  remembers,  the  prin- 
ciple, asserted  by  Parliament,  was  carried  out  into  an  act, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Grenville,  the  first  commissioner  of 
the  treasury,  in  which  it  was  declared  "  to  be  proper  to 
impose  certain  stamp  duties  in  the  colonies,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  a  revenue  in  America,  payable  into  the 
British  exchequer." 

Mr.  Lee  quickly  perceived  the  unconstitutionality  and 
danger  of  the  principle  asserted  in  this  act.  He  saw 
clearly,  not  only  its  fallacy,  but  the  extent  to  which  it 
would  reach,  and  the  duration  of  the  oppression,  to  which 
it  would  lead,  and  immediately  denounced  it,  in  letters 
to  his  friends  in  England,  and  in  his  conversations  with 
his  fellow-citizens.  It  was  not  his  nature,  to  be  silent,  or 
passive  when  the  slightest  violence  to  right  was  done. 
When  he  perceived  one  of  the  dearest  rights  of  his  coun- 
try was  denied  or  infringed,  he  became  active  and  in- 
trepid. He  wrote  (in  letters  to  his  friends  and  in  the 
paper  of  the  colony)  and  spoke  against  the  measure  just 
now  mentioned,  using  every  argument  to  rouse  his  coun- 
trymen to  a  sense  of  the  dangers  about  to  surround  them. 

In  March,  1764,  Mr.  Grenville's  declaratory  act  pass- 
ed; and  in  May  following,  Mr.  Lee  wrote  to  a  gentle- 
man in  London,  who  was  a  public  character,  expressing 
his  opinion  of  the  measure,  and  proving  the  incompati- 
bility of  the  act  with  the  constitution  of  Great  Britain, 
and  with  the  rights  of  his  countrymen;  also  strongly  and 
eloquently  stating  their  claims  to  the  gratitude  of  the 
mother  country.  It  has  been  recorded  of  a  celebrated 
patriot*  of  the  revolution,  that  in  expressing  his  views, 

*  P.  Henry. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  |>7 

confidentially,  to  a  private  company  of  his  friends,  in  the 
year  1778,  of  the  probable  consequences  of  resistance 
to  Great  Britain,  he  foretold,  that  when  Louis  XVI.  was 
convinced,  by  our  opposition  and  declaration  of  indepen- 
dence, that  the  colonies  would  not  submit,  he  would  join 
us.  This  is  certainly  an  instance  of  great  sagacity;  for 
not  even  then,  as  it  was  supposed,  had  any  person  ever 
before  suggested  the  probability  of  such  measures,  as 
those  of  resistance  and  independence.  No  one  can  fail 
to  be  struck,  then,  with  that  foresight  and  sagacity  which, 
in  1764,  when  as  yet  only  the  Declaratory  Act  had  pass- 
ed, suggested  the  probability  that  the  measures  it  con- 
templated, "though  intended  to  oppress  and  keep  us 
low,  in  order  to  secure  our  dependence,  might  be  sub- 
versive of  that  end;"  "and  may  produce  a  fatal  resent- 
ment of  parental  care,  being  converted  into  tyrannical 
usurpation. v  In  the  letter  from  which  these  quotations 
are  made,  glows  the  spirit  of  an  early  American  patriot 

CHANT1LLY,  VA. 

MAT  31,  1764. 

"My  DEAR  SIR — At  a  time  when  universal  selfishness 
prevails,  and  when  (did  not  a  very  few  instances  evince 
the  contrary)  one  would  be  apt  to  conclude  that  friend- 
ship, with  Astrea,  had  fled  this  degenerate  world,  how 
greatly  happy  must  be  the  man  who  can  boast  of  hav- 
ing a  friend.  That  this  happiness  is  mine,  the  whole 
tenor  of  my  life's  correspondence  with  you  proves  most 
clearly. 

"  Many  late  determinations  of  the  great,  on  your  side 
of  the  water,  seem  to  prove  a  resolution,  to  oppress 
North  America  with  the  iron  hand  of  power,  unrestrain- 
ed by  any  sentiment,  drawn  from  reason,  the  liberty  of 
mankind,  or  the  genius  of  their  own  government.  'Tis 
said  the  House  of  Commons  readily  resolved,  that  it  had 
'  a  right  to  tax  the  subject  here,  without  the  consent  of 
his  representative;5  and  that,  in  consequence  of  this, 
they  had  proceeded  to  levy  on  us  a  considerable  annual 
sum,  for  the  support  of  a  body  of  troops  to  be  kept  up 


28  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

in  this  quarter.     Can  it  be  supposed  that  those  brave 
adventurous  Britons,  who  originally  conquered  and  set- 
tled these  countries,  through  great  dangers  to  themselves 
and  benefit  to  the  mother  country,  meant  thereby  to  de- 
prive themselves  of  the  blessings  of  that  free  government 
of  which  they  were  members,  and  to  which  they  had  an 
unquestionable  right?  or  can  it  be  imagined  that  those 
they  left  behind  them  in  Britain,  regarded  those  worthy 
adventurers,  by  whose  distress  and  enterprise  they  saw 
their  country  so  much  enlarged  in  territory,  and  increased 
in  wealth,  as  aliens  to  their  society,  and  meriting  to  be 
enslaved  by  their  superior  power?    No,  my  dear  sir, 
neither  one  nor  the  other  of  these  can  be  true,  because 
reason,  justice,  and  the  particular  nature  of  the  British 
constitution,  nay,  of  all  government,  cry  out  against  such 
opinions!     Surely  no  reasonable  being  would,  at  the  ap- 
parent hazard  of  his  life,  quit  liberty  for  slavery;  nor 
could  it  be  just  in  the  benefited,  to  repay  their  benefac- 
tors with  chains  instead  of  the  most  grateful  acknow- 
ledgments.    And  as  certain  it  is,  that  &  the  free  posses- 
sion of  property,  the  right  to  be  governed  by  laws  made 
by  our  representatives,  and  the  illegality  of  taxation  with- 
out consent/  are  such  essential  principles  of  the  British 
constitution,  that  it  is  a  matter  of  wonder  how  men,  who 
have  almost  imbibed  them  in  their  mother's  milk,  whose 
very  atmosphere  is  charged  with  them,  should  be  of  opi- 
nion that  the  people  of  America  were  to  be  taxed  with- 
out consulting  their  representatives!    It  will  not  avail  to 
say  that  these  restrictions  on  the  right  of  taxation,  are 
meant  to  restrain  only  the  sovereign,  and  not  Parliament. 
The  intention  of  the  constitution  is  apparent,  to  prevent 
unreasonable  impositions  on  the  people;  and  no  method 
is  so  likely  to  do  that,  as  making  their  own  consent  ne- 
cessary, for  the  establishment  of  such  impositions.     But 
if  no  such  consent  is  allowed  in  our  case,  it  will  still  be 
an  aggravation  of  our  misfortune  to  be  the  slaves  of  five 
hundred  masters  instead  of  one.     It  would  seem,  indeed, 
to  be  unquestionably  true,  that  before  a  part  of  any  com- 
munity can  be  justly  deprived  of  the  rights  and  privi- 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  IJ&E.  ^y 

leges,  to  which  they  are  entitled  by  the  constitution  and 
laws/there  must  have  heen  some  great  and  palpable  in- 
jury offered  by  them  to  the  society  of  which  they  are  a 
part.  But  did  this  happen  in  the  case  of  the  first  settlers 
of  America?  or  did  they,  by  any  treasonable  combination 
against,  or  by  any  violation  offered  to,  the  laws  of  their 
country,  make  it  proper,  in  their  country,  to  deprive 
them  of  their  birth  right?  It  remains,  therefore,  that 
we  cannot  be  deprived  of  English  liberty,  though  it  may 
appear  expedient  that  we  should  be  despoiled  of  it.  But 
after  all,  my  dear  friend,  the  ways  of  Heaven  are  in- 
scrutable; and  frequently,  the  most  unlooked-for  events 
have  arisen  from  seemingly  the  most  inadequate  causes. 
Possibly  this  step  of  the  mother  country,  though  intended 
to  oppress  and  keep  us  low,  in  order  to  secure  our  de- 
pendence, may  be  subversive  of  this  end.  Poverty  and 
oppression,  among  those  whose  minds  are  filled  with 
ideas  of  British  liberty,  may  introduce  a  virtuous  indus- 
try, with  a  train  of  generous  and  manly  sentiments, 
which,  when  in  future  they  become  supported  by  num- 
bers, may  produce  a  fatal  resentment  of  parental  care 
being  converted  into  tyrannical  usurpation.  I  hope  you 
will  pardon  so  much  on  this  subject.  My  mind  has  been 
warmed,  and  I  hardly  know  where  to  stop,"  &c. 

Mr.  Lee  was  again  elected  in  the  spring  of  1764,  to 
the  House  of  Burgesses;  and  being  determined  to  make 
an  effort  to  induce  the  house  to  express  its  opinion  of 
the  declaratory  act,  by  some  solemn  and  efficient  mea- 
sure, he  brought  forward  the  subject  soon  after  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Assembly.  The  passage  of  the  act  had  been 
made  known  to  the  House  of  Burgesses,  by  the  colonial 
agent,  Mr.  Arthur  Lee,  a  brother  of  R.  H.  Lee.  After 
great  deliberation,  a  special  committee  was  appointed  to 
draught  an  address  to  the  king,  a  memorial  to  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  a  remonstrance  to  the  House  of  Commons. 
Mr.  Lee  was  placed  on  this  committee,  and  selected  to 
prepare  the  address  to  the  king,  and  the  memorial  to  the 
lords;  and  these  are  the  first  public  productions  from 
his  pen,  so  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained.  The  author  has 


30  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

the  original  manuscripts  of  these  documents,  with  which 
the  journals  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  correspond,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  journals  of  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, November,  1764,  p.  38,  &c.  They  contain  the 
genuine  principles  of  the  revolution,  and  abound  in  the 
firm  and  eloquent  sentiments  of  freemen.  The  success- 
ful  vindication  of  these  principles  has  rendered  our  revo- 
lutionary struggle  glorious.  They  form  the  basis  of  our 
free  institutions,  and  adorn  their  superstructure. 

In  one  who  so  clearly  perceived  the  gross  fallacy  of 
the  principle  of  the  declaratory  act,  and  the  conse- 
quences which  would  result  from  it  in  practice,  it  was 
not  strange,  that  it  should  have  produced  a  feeling  of 
<!eep  concern,  mixed  with  indignation,  against  those  who 
had  devised  a  scheme  so  adverse  to  the  rights,  and  so 
threatening  to  the  prosperity  of  his  country.  Mr.  Lee 
constantly  and  vehemently  denounced  it;  and  expressed 
on  all  public  occasions  the  opinion,  that  the  colonies  were 
no  longer  free.  So  strongly  was  this  opinion  impressed 
upon  his  mind,  and  so  certainly  did  he  foresee  the  prac- 
tical injury  which  was  to  be  attempted,  that  he  declared 
his  fellow-citizens  to  be  in  a  state  of  more  than  "  Egyp- 
tian bondage" — and  maintained  that  liberty,  British 
liberty,  could  not  co-exist  with  the  assertion  of  a  princi- 
ple, contrary  to  the  constitution.  He  was  too  well  versed 
in  the  nature  and  forms  of  other  governments,  and  too 
well  acquainted  with  the  actual  condition  of  their  inha- 
bitants, to  compare  with  them  the  real  situation  of  the 
colonies,  and  the  political  privileges  yet  possessed  by 
them.  But  this  comparative  freedom  did  not  satisfy  him, 
whose  mind  was  stored  with  historic  recollections  of  the 
exertions  of  his  English  ancestors,  for  what  they  term- 
ed their  "birth-rights,"  and  animated  with  the  love  of 
liberty. 

The  declaratory  act  of  1764,  was  followed  by  the  prac- 
tical application  of  the  principle  it  asserted,  and  the  fa- 
mous stanap  act,  passed  by  the  British  Parliament  in  the 
winter  session  of  1 765,  was  to  take  effect  at  the  beginning 
of  the  following  November.  Mr.  Lee  considered  this 


OF  BICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  3 1 

act  "  a  fatal  blow"  to  the  liberty  of  America;  but  his 
opinions  and  sentiments  will  be  best  illustrated  by  the 
following  letters  written  about  that  period. 

CHANTILLY,  Va. 

JULY  4,  1765. 

"  MY  DEAREST  SIR — By  Captain  Talman,  I  was  fa- 
voured with  your  obliging  letter  of  April  last,  before  the 
receipt  of  which,  I  had  been  informed  of  the  fatal  blow 
given  to  American  liberty,  by  the  ever  to  be  detested 
stamp  act.  I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you,  my  best  friend, 
for  your  design  of  helping  me  to  that  collection;*  but  it 
is  very  well  that  the  appointment  has  passed  me,  since, 

by  the  unanimous  suffrage  of  his  countrymen is 

regarded  as  an  execrable  monster,  who  with  parricidal 
heart  and  hands,  hath  concern  in  the  ruin  of  his  native 
country.  The  light  in  which  our  Assembly  viewed  that 
act,  may  be  collected  from  their  resolves  at  the  last 
meeting,  which  occasioned  their  dissolution.  I  would 
have  sent  you  a  copy,  had  I  not  been  persuaded  that  some 
of  your  numerous  friends  had  done  so  already. 

"Have  you  read  a  pamphlet  said  to  be  written  by 
George  Grenville,  in  which  he  has,  in  vain,  laboured  to 
prove  the  legislative  right  of  Britain  to  tax  America?  Tf 
no  better  arguments  can  be  produced  in  support  of  the 
measures  he  contends  for,  it  proves  the  intrinsic  vileness 
of  his  scheme;  and  shows  indeed,  that  systems  calculat- 
ed to  destroy  public  liberty,  can  be  maintained  only  by 
idle  sophistry  and  a  poor  affectation  of  wit.  It  is  most 
clear,  that  such  doctrines  are  as  far  remote  from  true 
policy  as  they  are  apparently  the  production  of  a  futile 
dealer  in  expedients,  who  understands  not  to  draw  the 
necessary  supplies  of  government  from  such  sources  only 

*  Mr.  Lee,  by  the  persuasion  of  some  of  his  friends,  had  been 
induced,  on  the  first  mention  of  the  stamp  act,  to  apply  for  a  col- 
lector's office.  He,  however,  quickly  discerned  the  design  and 
principle  of  the  act,  and  stopped  the  application.  See  his  vin- 
dication presently. 


32  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

as  are  consistent  with  the  end  of  all  government,  the 
safety,  ease,  and  happiness  of  the  people. 
"  Yours  affectionately, 

u  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE." 

The  same  day  on  which  the  above  letter  was  written, 
Mr.  Lee  wrote  to  his  brother  Mr.  Arthur  Lee,  then  in 
London,  who  had  consulted  him  on  the  propriety  of 
making  that  city  his  permanent  residence.  He  strongly 
dissuades  his  brother  from  such  a  step,  and  urges  the 
claims  which  his  native  land  had  to  all  its  sons,  particu- 
larly to  such  as  had  acquired  a  knowledge  of  arts  and 
science.  In  this  letter,  written  so  early  in  Mr.  Lee's 
political  life,  may  be  seen  his  estimation  of  the  import- 
ance of  knowledge  and  learning,  to  the  true  and  lasting 
welfare  of  a  nation.  These  enlightened  sentiments  he 
never  ceased  to  enforce,  not  only  by  all  the  power  of  his 
eloquence,  but  also  by  his  example,  throughout  a  useful 
and  bright  career.  After  writing  on  matters  of  private 
concern,  he  thus  introduces  the  subject  which  seemed 
ever  near  his  heart,  the  cause  of  his  country: 

"Everyman  in  America  hath  much  reason  to  lament 
with  you,  the  loss  of  American  liberty.     As  bad  indeed 
as  Egyptian  bondage,  is  now  become  the  fate  of  every 
inhabitant  of  America,  by  the  mother  country  being 
converted  into  an  arbitrary,  cruel,  and  oppressive  step- 
dame.     But  this  most  unjust  proceeding  (the  stamp  act) 
against  us,  should  instruct  every  American,  that  as  li- 
berty can  never  be  supported  without  arts  and  learning, 
a  diligent  attention  to  those  should  be  the  ruling  object, 
with  every  thinking  man.     But  then,  my  brother,  when 
these,  or  either  of  these  are  acquired,  should  not  their 
possessor  import  them  into  his  native  country;  which,  if 
forsaken  by  the  best  of  her  sons,  must  fall  into  barba- 
rous ignorance,  and  of  course,  become  a  fit  subject  for 
tyrannical  natures  to  impose  arbitrary  and  injurious  acts 
upon.     Should  America  make  the  same  progress  in  the 
arts  and  sciences,  as  she  infallibly  must  do  in  numbers 
of  people,  despotism  will  quickly  learn,  that  her  friend- 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  $$ 

ship  is  on  no  other  terms  to  be  obtained  than  by  a  free 
intercourse  and  equal  participation  of  good  offices,  li- 
berty aad  free  constitution  of  government. 

America,  then,  has  a  parent's  claim  to  her  descend- 
ants, and  a  right  to  insist  that  they  shall  not  fix  in  any 
place,  where,  by  so  doing,  they  may  add  strength  to  cruel 
and  tyrannical  oppression. 

I  am,  my  dear  brother,  ever  your  affectionate,  faithful 
friend, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

Mr.  Lee  did  not  confine  his  exertions  in  opposition  to 
the  stamp  act  to  letters  to  distant  correspondents;  but, 
very  soon  after  it  became  a  law,  he  determined  to  exert 
all  his  powers  in  open  and  direct  attempts  to  defeat  its 
operations  in  Virginia.  In  a  paper  that  follows,  will  be 
seen  the  bold  and  efficient  means  he  took  to  effect  this 
object.  When  we  reflect  upon  the  state  of  the  laws  of 
the  colony  at  this  period,  we  cannot  but  admire  the  ad- 
venturous spirit  manifested  by  this  ardent  patriot.  The 
laws  were  still  in  the  hands  of  the  officers  of  the  crown, 
and  Mr.  Lee  exposed  himself  to  their  pains  and  penalties. 
But  no  considerations  of  personal  safety  or  convenience 
appear  to  have  had  any  weight  with  him,  when  his 
country  claimed  his  services.  The  same  intrepid  spirit, 
which,  in  1765,  led  him  to  place  himself  in  the  front  of 
opposition,  actuated  him  throughout  the  momentous 
struggle  that  followed.  In  the  course  of  this  Memoir, 
the  reader  will  remark,  that  his  firmness  and  intrepidity 
never  forsook  him.  In  the  gloomiest  period  of  the  revo- 
lution, when  nearly  all  hearts  began  to  faint,  and  the 
boldest  asserters  of  freedom  to  despond,  Mr.  Lee  exhi- 
bited the  same  firm  and  unshaken  fortitude  in  council, 
which  distinguished  his  friend  and  fellow  citizen,  Wash- 
ington, in  the  field. 

Among  the  various  methods  which  Mr.  Lee  took  to 
prevent  the  operations  of  the  stamp  act,  the  most  promi- 
ment  was  to  form  an  association  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
terring all  persons  from  accepting  the  office  of  vender  of 

VOL.  i. — E 


34  LI*"E  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

stamp  paper,  and  for  awing  into  silence  and  inactivity 
those  who  might  still  be  attached  to  the  supremacy  of 
the  mother  country,  and  disposed  to  advocate  the  right 
of  colony  taxation.  A  copy  of  the  original  draught  of 
the  articles  of  the  association,  written  by  Mr.  Lee,  and 
kept  by  him,  as  the  head  and  leader  of  the  combination, 
is  here  inserted.  This  association  was  true  to  its  pledge, 
and  tended  to  spread  extensively  the  spirit  of  resistance. 

"  Articles  of  association,  by  the  citizens  of  Westmore- 
land, for  the  purpose  of  opposing  the  stamp  act. 

Roused  by  danger,  and  alarmed  at  attempts  foreign 
and  domestic,  to  reduce  the  people  of  this  country  to  a 
state  of  abject  and  detestabk  slavery,  by  destroying  that 
free  and  happy  constitution  of  government  under  which 
they  have  hitherto  lived;  we,  who  have  subscribed  this 
paper,  have  associated,  and  do  bind  ourselves  to  each 
other,  to  God,  and  our  country,  by  the  firmest  ties  which 
religion  and  virtue  can  frame,  to  stand  by,  and  with  our- 
selves and  fortunes  to  support,  maintain,  and  defend  each 
other,  in  the  observation  and  execution  of  these  follow- 
ing articles: 

1.  We  declare  all  due  allegiance  to  our  lawful  sove- 
reign George  the  Third,  King  of  Great  Britain,  and  we 
determine  to  the  uttermost  of  our  power  to  preserve  the 
laws,  the  peace,  and  good  order  of  this  colony,  so  far  as 
is  consistent  with  the  preservation  of  our  constitution, 
our  rights,  and  liberty. 

2.  As  we  know  it  to  be  the  birthright  privilege  ot 
every  British  subject,  (and  of  every  Virginian,  as  such;) 
founded  on  reason,  law,  and  compact,  that  he  shall  not 
be  tried  but  by  his  peers,  and  shall  not  be  taxed  but  by 
the  consent  of  a  parliament,  in  which  he  is  represented 
by  persons  who  themselves  pay  a  part  of  what  they  im- 
pose upon  others.     If,  therefore,  any  person  or  persons 
shall  attempt,  by  any  action  or  proceeding,  to  deprive 
this  colony  of  those  fundamental  rights,  we  will  imme- 
diately regard  him  or  them  as  the  most  dangerous  enemy 
^f  the  community;  and  we  will  go  to  any  extremity,  not 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  35 

only  to  prevent  the  success  of  such  an  attempt,  but  t& 
stigmatize  and  punish  the  offender. 

3.  As  the  stamp  act  does  absolutely  direct  the  pro- 
perty of  the  people  to  be  taken  from  them,  without  their 
consent,  expressed  by  their  representatives;  and  as,  in 
many  cases,  it  deprives  the  British  American  subject  of 
his  right  to  be  tried  by  jury,  we  do  determine,  at  every 
hazard,  and  paying  no  regard  to  danger  or  to  death,  to 
exert  every  faculty  to  prevent  the  execution  of  the  said 
stamp  act,  in  every  instance  whatever,  within  the  colony 
of  Virginia;  and  every  abandoned  wretch,  who  shall  be  so 
lost  to  virtue  and  public  good,  as  wickedly  to  contribute 
to  introduce  the  said  act  into  this  colony,  by  using  stamp 
paper,  or  by  any  other  means,  will,  with  the  utmost  expe- 
dition, be  convinced,  that  immediate  danger  and  disgrace 
shall  attend  his  prostitute  purpose. 

4.  That  the  last  article  may  most  surely  and  effectu- 
ally be  executed,  we  engage  to  each  other,  that  whenever 
it  shall  be  known  to  any  of  this  association,  that  any  person 
is  so  conducting  himself  as  to  favour  the  introduction  of 
the  stamp  act,  immediate  notice  shall  be  given  to  as  many 
of  this  association  as  possible;  and  every  individual,  so 
informed,  shall,  with  expedition,  repair  to  some  place  of 
meeting,  to  be  appointed  as  near  the  scene  of  action  as 
may  be. 

5.  Every  associator  shall  use  his  true  endeavour  to 
obtain  as  many  signers  to  this  association  as  he  possibly 
can. 

6.  If  any  attempt  shall  be  made  on  the  liberty  or  pro- 
perty of  any  associator,  for  any  action  or  thing  to  be  done 
in  consequence  of  this  agreement,  we  do  most  solemnly 
bind  ourselves,  by  the  sacred  engagements  entered  into, 
at  the  risk  of  our  lives  and  fortunes  to  restore  such  an 
associator  to  his  liberty,  and  to  protect  him  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  his  property. 

In  testimony  of  the  good  faith  with  which  we  resolve 
to  execute  this  association,  we  have,  this  27th  day  of 
February,  1766,  put  our  hands  and  seals  hereto." 

The  devotion  of  Mr.  Lee  to  the  cause  of  his  country 


36  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

did  not  evaporate  in  argument,  or  waste  itself  in  idle 
declamation.  It  led  him,  while  even  yet  the  insignia  and 
representatives  of  royalty  were  rt  on  the  high  places"  of 
the  land,  and  while  crown  law  and  crown  officers  were 
still  strong,  to  dare  open  and  direct  opposition  to  the  de- 
vices of  arbitrary  power.  He  was  active  in  rousing,  in- 
forming, and  leading  his  fellow  citizens,  and  obtaining 
numerous  signatures  to  the  articles  of  the  association. 

He  was,  at  this  time,  the  captain  of  a  volunteer 
company  of  light  horse,  in  his  county.  The  members 
of  this  company,  warmly  attached  to  him,  and  confiding 
in  his  courage,  and  in  his  knowledge  of  the  rights  of 
America,  had  joined  the  association,  in  a  spirit  congenial 
with  his  own.  A  person,  whose  name  need  not  be  men- 
tioned here,  had  not  only  declared  his  intention  to  use 
stamp  paper,  but  had  accepted  the  office  of  stamp  col- 
lector. When  Mr.  Lee  was  informed  of  these  circum- 
stances, according  to  the  fourth  article  of  the  association, 
he  gave  notice  to  as  many  of  the  members  of  it  as  he 
could,  and  summoned  his  company  of  horse.  They 
proceeded  to  the  residence  of  the  stamp  collector,  and 
required  him  to  bring  out  his  commission,  and  all  the 
paper  he  had  in  his  house,  and  deliver  it  to  them;  and 
also  to  bind  himself,  by  an  oath,  neither  directly  nor  in- 
directly to  promote  the  sale  or  use  of  stamp  paper.  The 
collector  expostulated,  hesitated,  and  at  length  refused. 
A  stout  and  fierce-looking  man  of  the  troop  advanced  at 
this  moment  to  him,  and  with  a  stern  look  and  pene- 
trating voice  addressed  him,  "  Swear."  The  terrified 
collector  pronounced  the  oath,  and  brought  out  his  com- 
mission and  stamp  paper,  which  were  solemnly  burnt  in 
his  presence. 

The  person,  whom  Mr.  Lee  and  his  associates  had 
thus  compelled  to  abandon  the  support  of  the  stamp 
act,  notwithstanding  the  unpopularity  of  it,  had  declar- 
ed that  he  would  use  stamp  paper,  in  clearing  out  the 
first  vessel  he  should  freight  for  England.  He  WRS  a 
man  of  wealth  and  influence,  and  might  have  been  very 
instrumental  in  introducing  into  use,  the  odious  paper. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  37 

and  in  encourageing  those  who  were  attached  to  the 
views  of  the  present  ministry.  Mr.  Lee  was  aware  of 
this,  and  took  every  mode  he  could  devise,  to  excite  the 
vengeance  of  the  people  against  him.  For  this  purpose, 
he  published  the  following  address  to  the  people  of  Vir- 
ginia, which  was  admirably  adapted  to  the  comprehen- 
sion of  the  people  generally,  and  to  the  state  of  feeling 
then  existing. 

"  TO  THE  GOOD  PEOPLE  OF  VIRGINIA.* 

"FRIENDS  AND  FELLOW  CITIZENS — It  is  the  busi- 
ness of  every  honest  man,  when  he  knows  that  any 
thing  is  about  to  be  done,  by  which  his  countrymen  will 
be  ruined,  to  give  them  timely  notice  of  the  danger,  that 
they  may  take  proper  care  to  save  themselves  from  the 
destruction  that  threatens  them.  I  shall,  therefore, 
point  out  the  mischief;  I  do  not  doubt,  that  you  will, 
like  brave  and  free  born  men,  do  your  endeavour  to 
prevent  it. 

"  When  your  fathers  came  first  from  England,  to  dis- 
cover and  settle  this  country,  they  had  a  right  to,  and  did 
enjoy,  the  same  liberties  with  the  rest  of  their  fellow 
subjects  in  England.  And  the  king,  at  that  time,  knowing 
what  great  benefit  it  would  be  to  England,  to  settle  this 
country,  and  what  great  dangers  the  first  settlers  must 
meet  with,  did  give  them  his  royal  word,  in  an  instru- 
ment, called  a  charter,  that  they  and  their  children,  and 
all  who  came  after  them,  should  hold  their  liberty  and 
property,  as  the  people  of  England  did,  and  as  they 
w^uld  have  done,  had  they  remained  there.  Now,  one 
of  \he  best  rights  that  Englishmen  enjoy,  is,  that  their 
property,  their  living,  shall  not  be  taken  from  them,  nor 
any  pcect  of  it,  except  by  the  consent  of  those  members 
or  burgesses,  whom  they  shall  choose  at  their  elections 
to  represent  them.  Because,  if  the  burgesses,  who  are 
chosen  by  them,  and  live  among  them,  and  have  estates 

*  From  Mr.  Lee's  manuscript. 


33  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

among  them,  should  lay  a  tax  upon  the  country,  they  will 
have  to  pay  their  proportionable  part;  and  besides,  if 
they  do  wrong,  and  lay  taxes  without  reason,  the  people 
can  turn  them  out,  at  the  new  elections.  This  reason- 
able right,  you  know,  my  contrymen,  we  have  all  along 
enjoyed.  Nor  did  one  fellow  subject  in  England,  ever 
doubt  it,  until  lately,  when  the  stamp  act  was  passed; 
which,  if  excuted,  it  is  supposed,  would  take  from  this 
poor  country,  at  least,  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling 
every  year;  a  sum  twice  as  much,  as  all  our  taxes  by  our 
assembly  yet  amount  to,  and  ivhich  must  ruin  us  all. 
Nay,  I  question,  whether  in  a  few  years,  we  should  be 
able  to  pay  this  tax,  even  though  we  should  sell  our  lands 
and  slaves,  with  our  wives  and  children  into  the  bargain. 
And  what  is  worse  than  this,  if  the  stamp  act  should  go 
down  here,  the  people  of  England  will  go  on  to  tax  us 
every  year,  because  the  more  they  tax  us,  the  less  necessity 
will  there  be  to  tax  themselves.  And  because  our  free- 
holders do  not  vote  at  their  elections  for  members  of 
Parliament,  and,  therefore,  cannot  displace  them,  let  them 
do  what  they  will.  As  it  is  well  known  from  these  rea- 
sons, that  the  stamp  act  would  certainly  ruin  the  people 
of  this  colony,  by  taking  away  their  liberty  with  their 
property;  many  of  our  worthy  countrymen,  by  their 
conduct  at  Williamsburg,  the  thirty-first  of  October  last, 
have  hitherto  prevented  this  cruel  act,  from  going  into 
operation  in  Virginia;  for  no  paper  can  now  be  had,  as 
the  stamp  master  has  resigned  his  office.  This  I  am 
told,  is  the  case  in  all  the  other  colonies;  the  people 
every  where,  abhorring  the  act  as  we  do.  When  this  is 
so  well  known  to  be  the  opinion  every  where,  doe?  it 
not  deserve  your  highest  indignation,  and  ought  yoi:  not 

to  punish  in  the  severest  manner, if  he  should  do, 

what  he  has  the  matchless  impudence  to  declare  he  will 
do?  for  he  has  said,  he  would  clear  out  his  vessel  on 
stamp  paper,  which  he  knows  where  to  get — from 

abroad  no  doubt.    Now  it  is  plain,  if  you  permit 

to  set  this  example,  other  merchants  will  follow  it, 
and  thus  the  stamp  act,  which  is  to  destroy  our  liberty, 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  39 

will  be  established  in  trade;  from  trade,  will  creep  into 
our  courts  of  justice,  and  from  thence,  into  every  branch 
of  business  in  this  country.  Now  is  the  time,  my 
countrymen,  by  nipping  in  the  bud  this  wicked  design, 
to  show  the  world,  that  you  determine  to  hand  down  to 
your  children,  the  liberty  given  yon  by  your  fathers; 
and  that  will  not  suffer  the  execution  of  the  stamp 
act,  by  which  you,  and  your  children  are  to  be  made 
slaves,  and  your  property  to  be  taken  from  you  by  vio- 
lence. On  this  occasion,  every  one  should  think  alike; 

every  one  should  look  on ,  as  the  greatest  enemy 

of  his  country,  and  who  should  be  punished,  unless  he 
immediately  give  up  his  intention  to  use  stamp  paper, 
and  publicly  inform  us  of  this  change  of  his  opinion. 
Let  us  so  do  with  this  man,  that  fear  may  haunt  him 
in  his  dreams,  and  in  the  day  find  no  safety,  while  he 
gives  every  one  of  you  reason  to  be  his  enemy,  and 
makes  it  your  duty  to  be  his  foe.  This  self-interested  man 
says,  it  will  be  hard  on  him,  not  to  send  out  his  grain; 
but,  will  it  not  be  harder  on  the  good  people  of  Vir- 
ginia, to  loose  their  liberty?  And  shall  we  ever  agree, 
that  the  good  of  all,  should  be  given  up  for  the  interest 
of  one  man?  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  by  my  country- 
men, that  the  safety  of  the  people  is  the  supreme  law, 
and  that  no  private  interest,  nor  any  other  consideration, 
should  destroy  this. 

A  VIRGINIA  PLANTER." 


The  boldness  and  energy,  with  which  Mr.  Lee  op- 
posed the  stamp  act,  rendered  him  peculiarly  obnoxious 
to  those,  who  from  interest,  or  any  other  motive,  were 
attached  to  the  authority  of  England.  His  popularity 
and  his  eloquence,  made  him  an  object  of  their  fear  and 
their  hatred.  It  will  readily  be  imagined,  that  every 
effort  was  made  to  lessen  his  influence,  both  in  the  As- 
sembly and  with  the  people.  Among  the  many  arts  used 
by  the  adherents  of  arbitrary  power,  to  effect  this  object, 
the  most  alarming,  was  an  accusation  of  having  applied 


|0  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

for  the  place  of  stamp  collector,  and  of  having  turned 
an  enemy  to  the  act,  and  a  popular  demagogue,  from  dis- 
appointment. This  charge  having  had  some  ground  to 
support  it,  began  to  produce  the  effect  intended;  at  least, 
among  those  who  were  not  acquainted  with  Mr.  Lee. 
As  he  had  explained  the  matter  to  the  people  of  West- 
moreland, they  henceforth  treated  it  with  contempt;  but 
it  now  became  necessary,  to  publish  a  candid  account  of 
the  motives  which  induced  him,  to  make  such  applica- 
tion, and  afterwards  to  decline  the  appointment,  even 
before  the  final  passage  of  the  act.  The  statement  of 
the  whole  transaction,  completely  excqlpated  him  from 
the  dishonourable  motives  alleged  to  have  influenced 
him  in  his  conduct.  His  enemies  had  the  mortification 
to  find,  that  their  attempts  to  injure  him,  served  only  to 
raise  him  higher  in  public  estimation;  and  to  be  still 
more  admired  and  caressed,  as  an  able  and  patriotic  as- 
serter  of  the  rights  of  his  native  country.  His  address 
to  the  Editor  of  the  Virginia  Gazette,  is  here  presented 
to  the  reader. 

WESTMORELAND, 

JULY  25,  1766. 

"  SIR — To  remove  the  painful  consideration  that  one 
worthy  person  should  be  induced  by  misrepresentation, 
to  think  ill  of  me,  is  the  reason  which  prevails  with  me, 
to  desire  you  will  be  good  enough  to  insert  what  follows, 
in  your  next  gazette. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  your  humble  servant, 

"  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE." 

•    *;, 

"Early  in  November,  1764, 1  was,  for  the  first  time, 
informed  by  a  gentleman  of  the  intention  of  Parliament 
to  lay  a  stamp  duty  in  America,  with  a  friendly  proposi- 
tion on  his  part,  to  use  his  influence  to  procure  for  me 
the  office  of  stamp  collector.  I  call  it  friendly,  because 
I  believe  the  gentleman  no  more  than  myself,  nor  per- 
haps a  single  person  in  this  country,  had  at  that  time, 
reflected  the  least,  on  the  nature  and  tendency  of  such 
an  act.  Considering  this  only  in  the  light  of  a  benefi- 


OF  HICHAttD  ttENRY  LEE.  4} 

eial  employment,  I  agreed  the  gentleman  should  write, 
and  I  wrote  myself.  It  was  but  a  few  days  after  my  let- 
ters were  sent,  that  reflecting  on  the  nature  of  the  appli- 
cation I  had  made,  the  impropriety  of  an  American  being 
engaged  in  such  an  affair,  struck  me  so  strongly,  that  I 
determined  to  exert  every  faculty  I  possessed,  both  in 
private  and  public  life,  to  prevent  the  success  of  a  mea- 
sure, which  I  now  discovered  to  be  in  the  highest  de- 
gree, pernicious  to  my  country.  I  considered  that  to 
err,  is  certainly  the  portion  of  humanity;  but  that  it  was 
the  business  of  an  honest  man  to  recede  from  error  as 
soon  as  he  discovered  it;  and  that  the  strongest  principle 
of  duty  called  upon  every  citizen  to  prevent  the  ruin  of 
his  country,  without  being  restrained  by  any  considera- 
tion which  could  interrupt  the  primary  obligation.  But 
it  did  not  appear  to  me  that  a  promulgation  of  my  appli- 
cation was  necessary,  as  I  conceived  that  my  actions 
would  be  the  strongest  proofs  of  the  rectitude  of  my 
intentions.  That  such  was  the  conduct  held  by  me  in 
public,  I  desire  not  to  be  credited  on  my  bare  assertion, 
but  with  confidence  I  appeal  to  the  many  worthy  gentle- 
men with  whom  I  served  in  the  General  Assembly. 
They  know  who  first  moved  in  the  House  of  Burgesses, 
for  the  address  to  his  majesty,  the  memorial  to  the 
Lords,  and  remonstrance  to  the  House  of  Commons; 
they  also  know  what  part  I  took  in  preparing  those  pa- 
pers. For  my  uniform  opinion  and  conduct  in  private, 
I  safely  refer  to  all  with  whom  I  have  the  pleasure  of  an 
acquaintance.  Such  being  my  principles  and  such  my 
conduct  long  before  my  letters  could  possibly  have 
reached  England,  before  the  act  passed,  and  therefore 
before  the  appointment  of  any  distributor,  I  leave  the 
impartial  reader  to  determine,  with  what  truth  and  pro- 
priety it  has  been  asserted,  that  my  opinion  of  the  act 
was  not  discovered  until  I  was  certain  of  being  disap- 
pointed. But  as  a  further  confirmation,  if  a  further  is 
necessary,  of  my  early  determination  to  depart  from  the 
application  I  had  made,  no  duplicates  of  my  letters  were 
ever  sent;  and  by  their  not  arriving  until  many  months 
VOL.  i. — F 


4#.  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

after  the  appointment  of  distributor  was  made,  no  mea- 
sure was  ever  taken  by  my  friends  in  consequence  of 
what  I  had  written.  From  this  state  of  the  case,  as 
exactly  related,  as  my  memory  can  serve  me  to  relate 
the  circumstances  of  a  transaction  now  of  twenty  months 
standing,  it  will  appear  to  every  considerate  and  candid 
person,  that  my  proceeding  amounts  to  nothing  more 
than  the  having  made  a  hasty  application,  the  impro- 
priety of  which  was  presently  discovered,  and  a  constant 
tenor  of  conduct  pursued,  that  operated  (as  far  as  my 
powers  could  make  it)  to  prevent  my  success  in  a  point 
I  am  very  untruly  supposed  to  have  wished  for  until  I 
found  myself  disappointed.  Thus  much  I  have  judged 
it  necessary  to  say  in  justice  to  my  character,  and  to  say 
more  would  be  trifling  with  the  public. 

44  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE." 

The  stamp  act  was  equally  unpopular  in  other  colo- 
nies. Connecticut  and  New  York,  manifested  particu- 
lar abhorrence  of  the  principle  assumed  in  it;  but  Mas- 
sachusetts led  the  northern  and  eastern  colonies  in  their 
opposition  to  the  measure,  exhibiting  an  early  and  clear- 
perception  of  its  unconstitutionally,  and  a  bold  and  pa- 
triotic determination  to  resist  it.  Even  now,  she  had 
arisen  the  star  of  liberty  in  the  east,  which,  beginning  to 
burn  brightly,  afterwards  continued  so  steadily  and  glori- 
ously to  illuminate  the  bodies  around  her;  while  Virginia 
to  the  south,  was  already  glowing  in  the  firmament,  a 
"  Jiving  sapphir." 

The  ministry  were  now  convinced,  that  nothing  less 
than  military  force  could  compel  obedience  to  the  stamp 
act;  and  the  people  of  England  began  to  grow  tired  of  a 
measure,  which  without  producing  any  practical  good, 
had  already  excited  much  dissension,  and  threatened 
incalculable  injury  tc  the  empire.  The  administration 
of  Lord  Grenville  having  become  unpopular,  and  the 
king  having  taken  offence  at  the  manner  in  which  the 
regency  bill  had  been  drawn  up,  could  no  longer  sustain 
itself.  The  Marquis  of  Rockingham,  an  upright  and 


OP  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  43 

popular  nobleman,  was  at  the  head  of  the  new  adminis- 
tration: he  had  always  disapproved  of  the  proceedings 
against  America,  and  one  of  the  first  important  acts  of 
his  ministry,  was  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act;  but  this 
was  accompanied  by  a  declaratory  act,  asserting  the 
right  of  the  mother  country,  "  to  bind  the  colonies  in 
all  cases  whatever."  The  repeal,  notwithstanding  the 
declaratory  act,  gave  great  joy,  especially  to  the  south. 
The  commercial  regulations  still  continued  in  force,  and 
the  northern  cities  were  far  from  being  satisfied.  Al- 
though Mr.  Lee  participated  in  the  joy  so  generally 
expressed,  he  did  not  however  cease  to  feel  great  appre- 
hension from  the  spirit  which  appeared  in  the  declara- 
tory act.  He  constantly  expressed  his  conviction  that 
the  absolute  authority  thus  formally  asserted,  would,  ere 
long,  be  again  attempted  in  practice.  Yet  willing  to 
hope  for  the  best,  he  did  not  wish  to  cloud  unnecessarily, 
the  prospect  of  happier  times.  But  his  antipathy  to  the 
stamp  act,  and  its  friends  and  supporters,  was  as  strong, 
as  when  it  was  hanging  over  the  land.  The  following 
anecdote  will  show  this,  and  will  also  exhibit  his  zeal,  in 
behalf  of  the  rights  of  his  countrymen.  His  purse  was 
at  the  service  of  his  country,  and  in  this  respect,  he 
continued  throughout  the  revolutionary  contest,  to  prove 
his  readiness  to  sacrifice  his  fortune,  as  well  as  his 

talents  and  life,  to  promote  her  interests.  Mr who 

had  been  a  supporter  of  the  proceedings  of  the  mother 
country,  had  refused  to  join  in  the  general  joy,  on  the 
repeal  of  the  stamp  act.  This  conduct  was  indignantly 
beheld,  and  violently  resented,  by  a  warm,  perhaps  indis- 
creet person  of  the  name  of  Seers,  and  a  verdict  in 
an  action  at  law,  was  obtained  against  him  by  this  adhe- 
rent of  kingly  power.  To  show  their  detestation  of 
toryism,  Mr.  Lee,  and  at  his  suggestion,  many  inhabitants 
of  the  county,  subscribed  money  to  satisfy  the  judgment. 
A  copy  from  the  original  manuscript,  as  written  by 
Mr.  Lee,  is  here  inserted.  It  contains  the  signatures  of 
the  subscribers,  in  their  own  hand  writing.  And  com- 
paratively  unimportant  as  it  is,  this  list  has  often  excited 


44  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

jn  the  breast  of  the  author,  feelings  of  attachment  to 
the  men,  who  seemed  so  devoted  to  their  country.  It 
is  one  of  those  genuine  evidences  of  the  patriotic  spirit 
of  the  times,  which  is  worthy  of  a  place  among  re- 
cords of  apparently  a  more  exalted  character. 

<c  In  testimony  of  our  entire  approbation  of  the  virtues 
and  manly  spirit  with  which  Mr.  John  Sears,  of  Essex 
county,  resented  the  contumacious  and  vicious  conduct 

of ,  in  refusing  to  join  the  general  joy  of  Virginia 

on  the  repeal  of  that  most  arbitrary,  unjust,  and  tyran- 
nical act  imposing  stamp  duties  in  America,  and  utterly 
abhorring  all  principles  by  which  he  can  be  injured  for 
having  so  acted,  we  agree  most  willingly  to  pay  the  sum 
of  money,  by  each  of  us  subscribed,  to  Mr.  Sears,  or  his 
order,  on  demand,  thereby  to  prevent  the  bad  conse- 
quences of  a  late  judgment  obtained  against  him,  and 
also  to  evince  our  attachment  to  the  cause  of  liberty  by 
supporting  its  generous  asserters* 


Richard  Henry  Lee, 

20  shillings. 

James  Davenport, 

10 

do. 

John  Lee, 

5. 

do. 

Jno.  Martin,     - 

5 

do. 

Francis  L.  Lee, 

5 

do. 

more  if  necessary. 

Richard  Parker, 

5 

do. 

my  intention  is  to  indemnify  ; 

more  if  ne- 

cessary. 

Wm.  Booth,     - 

5 

do. 

Thomas  Ludwell  Lee, 

5 

do. 

more  if  necessary 

Wm.  Lee, 

5 

do. 

do. 

Arthur  Lee,    - 

10 

do. 

do. 

OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

THE  repeal  of  the  stamp  act  having  restored  harmony 
between  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies,  particu- 
larly the  southern  colonies,  nothing  occurred,  during 
the  short  administration  of  Lord  Rockingham,  to  excite 
any  sensation  sufficient  to  call  into  public  action  the  ta- 
lents of  the  leading  men  in  Virginia.  Mr.  Lee,  though 
now  living  more  retired  from  public  employment,  still 
gave  a  close  attention  to  the  political  affairs  of  Great 
Britain.  He  cultivated  his  acquaintance  with  gentlemen 
of  intelligence  in  England,  and  obtained  from  them  the 
earliest  information  on  American  affairs.  This  infor- 
mation he  was  active  in  communicating  to  his  fellow- 
citizens  by  letters,  conversation,  and  by  publications. 
Feeling  a  conviction  that  the  opinions  of  British  states- 
men, no  less  than  the  wants  of  the  British  exchequer, 
would  lead  to  a  repetition  of  the  late  violation  of  the 
rights  of  the  colonies,  he  endeavoured  to  prepare  the 
minds  of  the  most  influential  men  for  effectual  resist- 
ance. 

His  biographer,  in  tracing  Mr.  Lee's  public  course 
during  the  years  1765  and  1766,  had  no  appropriate 
place  in  which  to  mention  an  incident  in  his  life,  of  great 
and  durable  interest  to  himself,  and  of  BO  little  moment 
to  the  public  good.  This  was  his  first  acquaintance 
with  the  celebrated  patriot  and  orator,  Patrick  Henry. 
From  the  character  and  principles  of  these  two  men, 
the  reader  will  have  anticipated  the  mention  of  the  fact, 
that  a  mutual  admiration  of  each  other  quickly  followed, 
and  that  a  warm  friendship  and  hearty  coalition  on  pub- 
lic questions  soon  existed  between  them.  This  was  the 
certain  consequence  of  the  intercourse  of  men  of  such 
congenial  feeling  and  similar  principles,  This  friend 


40  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

ship  and  harmony  of  principle  existed  until  their  death 
Two  such  men,  during  the  period  which  followed,  act- 
ing in  close  and  active  concert,  must  have  had  a  power- 
ful influence  on  the  public  opinions  and  proceedings  of 
their  native  state.     And,  indeed,  to  the  genius,  integrity, 
and  eloquence  of  these  great  men  may  be  attributed,  in 
a  very  considerable  degree,  the  confessedly  distinguished 
part  which  Virginia  acted  in  the  revolution.     They 
aroused  their  fellow-citizens  to  a  sense  of  their  danger; 
they  cheered  and  animated  them  in  the  dark  hours  of 
war  and  desolation;  suggested  the  most  efficient  means 
of  resistance;  and  directed  the  patriotism,  they  found  so 
generally  existing,  to  the  wisest  ends.     The  only  sub- 
jects on  which  they  differed,  in  after  times,  were  the 
payment  of  British  debts,  and  the  necessity  and  propriety 
of  making  paper  money  a  legal  tender  for  debts  con- 
tracted on  the  expectation  of  payment  in  coin.     This 
difference,  however,  produced  no  abatement  in  their 
friendship,  while  it  gave  occasion  to  debates  in  the  Vir- 
ginia assembly,  which  exhibited  as  splendid  and  beauti- 
ful specimens  of  eloquence,  as  ever  excited  the  admira- 
tion and  controled  the  proceedings  of  any  deliberative 
body,  ancient  or  modern.     Mr.  Henry  observed  to  a  son 
of  Richard  II,  Lee,  who  had  the  pleasure  of  serving  a 
session  some  years  afterwards  with  him,  u  your  father, 
sir,  and  myself  always  agreed  upon  the  great  principles 
of  freedom.     We  differed  on  some  questions  of  internal 
policy,  but  liberty  we  alike  fondly  loved."    He  was  not 
a  member  of  the  Assembly  of  Virginia  when  Mr.  Lee 
moved  the  address  to  the  king,  the  memorial  to  the  lords, 
&c.  which  have  been  mentioned.     Mr.  Lee,  therefore, 
had  not  his  aid  in  carrying,  through  the  House  of  Bur- 
gesses, that  measure  which  was  indisputably  (at  least 
south  of  Massachusetts)  the  first  legislative  opposition  to 
the  right  of  the  mother  country  to  tax  America.    Mr. 
Lee,  although  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  in 
1705,  had  not  reached  Williamsburg  when  Mr.  Henry 
introduced  his  famous  resolutions  against  the  stamp  act. 
He,  however,  heartily  concurred  in  the*  propriety  of 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  .-^47 

adopting  them,  although  doubts  were  entertained  by  all 
the  older  members  of  the  house.  Both  of  these  men 
were  remarkable,  for  that  decision  of  character  which 
Jed  them,  thus  early,  through  opposition  and  danger,  to 
advise  resistance  to  the  mother  country. 

The  internal  concerns  of  the  colony,  at  this  time,  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  the  House  of  Burgesses.  The 
leaders  of  the  patriotic  party  were  anxious  to  weaken, 
by  all  the  means  in  their  power,  the  weight  and  influence 
of  the  court  party.  The  office  of  speaker  of  the  house 
and  treasurer  of  the  colony  had  long  been  united  in  the 
same  person.  This  circumstance  had  always  given  great 
influence  to  the  person  holding  these  places,  who  was 
always  an  adherent  of  the  British  court.  Mr.  Lee, 
therefore,  determined  to  make  an  effort  to  effect  the  se- 
paration of  the  two  offices,  and  accordingly  moved,  "that 
the  two  offices  be  now  separated,  and  be  henceforth 
filled  by  different  persons."  His  motion  met  with  vehe- 
ment opposition;  he  resolutely  urged  it,  Mr.  Henry  ad- 
vocated it,  and,  after  a  long  and  animated  debate,  the 
motion  was  adopted.  This  measure  essentially  aided  the 
popular  cause,  and  removed  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  pa- 
triotic resistance  made,  shortly  afterwards,  to  the  further 
violation  of  American  rights. 

At  this  time  the  great  earl  of  Camden,  then  Lord  High 
Chancellor  of  England,  was  known  to  be  opposed  to  the 
principles  on  which  the  English  ministry  were  endea- 
vouring to  impose  taxes  upon  America.  He  was  known, 
too,  to  cherish  the  most  friendly  sentiments  towards  the 
American  people,  and  had  always  been  a  supporter  of 
the  popular  features  of  the  British  constitution.  The 
great  and  commanding  talents  of  Lord  Camden,  exerted 
in  the  support  of  such  sentiments,  had  endeared  him  to 
the  colonies,  and  rendered  him  more  popular  than  even 
Lord  Chatham.  With  a  view  to  strengthen  the  good 
opinion,  and  to  ensure  the  exertions  of  this  eminent 
statesman  and  lawyer  in  behalf  of  America,  Mr.  Lee 
suggested,  to  his  friends  in  Westmoreland,  the  idea  of 
procuring  a  meeting  of  the  people  of  the  county,  to  ex- 


48  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

press  their  thanks  to  Lord  Camden  for  his  opposition  to 
the  stamp  atet,  and  to  ask  his  aid  in  opposing  all  similar 
attempts.  He  also  proposed  to  them  to  subscribe  money 
enough  to  procure  a  likeness  of  Lord  Camden,  and  to  ask 
his  lordship  to  sit  for  it.  It  was  intended  to  place  this 
portrait  in  the  court-house  of  the  county.  A  meeting  was 
called  and  numerously  attended,  and  Mr.  Lee's  proposi- 
tions were  unanimously  adopted.  The  requisite  sum  was 
quickly  raised,  and  Mr.  Lee  was  appointed  to  address 
Lord  Camden,  and  inform  him  of  the  resolutions  of  that 
meeting.  The  following  is  his  letter  to  that  nobleman. 

WESTMORELAND,  VA. 

"  MY  LORD — Wonder  not,  that  the  people,  in  this 
remote  part  of  his  majesty's  dominions,  revere  your  lord- 
ship's character;  and  since  there  is  no  part  of  the  Bri- 
tish Empire,  which  does  not  feel  the  influence  of  Lord 
Camdeu's  virtues,  America  in  particular,  must  ever 
regard  your  lordship,  as  the  patron  of  its  liberty,  best 
possession  of  human  nature. 

Prompted  by  gratitude,  they  entreat  your  lordship  to 
accept  their  humble  thanks,  and  to  favour  them  with  per- 
mitting your  likeness  to  be  taken,  that  it  may  remain  a 
memorial  to  posterity,  of  their  veneration,  and  of  the 
inestimable  benefit  derived  to  British  America,  from  your 
lordship's  protection. 

Ifiave  the  honour  to  be,  my  lord,  your  lordship's 
most  obedient  and  devoted  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

To  the  it.  lion.  CHAHLES  LORD  CAMDEN, 
Loril  High  Chancellor  of  Great  Britain." 

Mr.  Lee  was  appointed  to  carry  into  effect  the  wishes 
of  the  people.  He  accordingly  wrote  to  Mr.  Edmund 
Jennings,  a  gentleman  in  London,  of  great  virtue  and 
respectability,  and  a  friend  to  the  colonies.  His  letter 
to  that  gentleman,  while  it  shows  the  devotion  of  Mr. 
Lee,  to  the  rights  of  America,  evinces  his  predilection 
for  the  natives  of  his  country.  In  this  letter  is  contained, 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  49 

the  earliest  mention,  which  the  author  recollects  to  have 
seen,  of  our  famous  countryman,  West. 


CHANTILLY,  VA, 

JUXK  1,  1767. 

"  DEAR  SIR — I  hope  your  goodness  will  pardon  me, 
for  the  trouble  I  am  going  to  give  you.  The  gentlemen 
of  Westmoreland,  having  a  great  veneration  for  the  cha- 
racter of  Lord  Camden,  particularly  for  his  honourable 
support  of  America's  liberty  against  the  stamp  act,  wish 
much  to  have  his  lordship's  picture  to  grace  their  court 
house.  For  this  purpose,  they  have  paid  into  my  hands 
76Z.  Ss.  for  which,  I  enclose  you  two  bills  of  exchange, 
and  beg  the  favour  of  you,  to  wait  on  Lord  Camdeo, 
with  the  enclosed  letter;  which  intreats  his  lordship's 
permission,  to  the  taking  of  his  picture.  This  being 
obtained,  I  must  leave  to  your  judgment,  the  choice  of 
a  limner,  only  observing  that  the  gentlemen  would  prefer 
Reynolds,  unless  you  think  his  difference  in  price, 
greater  than  his  superiority  in  painting.  Indeed,  I  can- 
not help  observing  for  my  part,  that  I  think  Mr.  West 
being  an  American,  ought  to  be  preferred  in  this  matter, 
if  his  skill  should  approach  near  to  that  of  the  best  lim- 
ner, as  I  am  told  it  does. 

I  must  again  entreat  your  forgiveness,  for  troubling 
you  in  this  affair.  I  thought  you  would  not  be  displeased, 
at  this  testimony  of  our  esteem  for  the  patriot,  whose 
virtue  has  saved  our  common  country. 

I  am  with  much  esteem,  dear  sir,  your  affectionate 
and  obedient  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

To  EDTHTJSTD  JENIKGS, 
at  his  Chambers,  Lincoln  Inn,  London," 

Mr.  Jenings  delivered  Mr.  Lee's  letter,  and  the  reso- 
lutions of  the  people  of  Westmoreland,  to  Lord  Cam- 
den,  who  promised  to  comply  with  their  request;  but 
he  deferred  it  so  long,  and  on  such  pretences,  that  Mr. 
Jenings  thought,  that  he  deemed  it  prudent  not  to 

VOL.  i. — G 


5(j  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

fulfil  his  promise.     Mr.  Jenings'  letters  on  the  subject, 
are  as  follow: 

"  DEAR  SIR — As  I  have  now  but  little  hope  of  execu- 
ting the  commission  of  the  gentlemen  of  Westmoreland, 
it  would  be  improper  in  me,  longer  to  detain  their  sub- 
scription money;  and  therefore,  if  you  will  draw  on  me 
at  Mr.  James  RussePs,  your  bill  shall  be  duly  honoured. 

I  have  taken  much  pains,  be  assured,  to  obtain  Lord 
Camden's  portrait,  and  am  sorry  for  the  sake  of  the 
gentlemen  of  Westmoreland,  and  for  his  lordship's  and 
my  own  honour,  that  I  have  not  succeeded.  I  once 
thought  myself  sure  of  it;  but  am  now  taught  that  men 
here,  have  other  ambition,  than  to  be  esteemed  and 
honoured  by  their  fellow  citizens.  Should  the  varying 
politics  of  this  country  suffer  his  lordship  at  any  fu- 
ture time,  to  sit  to  a  limner,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of 
troubling  you,  to  induce  the  gentlemen  of  Westmore- 
land, to  honour  me  with  the  acceptance  of  his  portrait 
from  me. 

The  newspapers  here,  talk  of  changes  and  a  coalition 
of  parties.  I  am  indifferent  to  the  first,  and  I  think  the 
last  would  be  dangerous;  the  first  would  produce  no 
change  of  measures,  and  the  last  would  be  an  irretriev- 
able confirmation  of  public  mischief.  Nothing  but  a 
new  system  can  give  comfort  to  the  people,  and  honour 
to  his  majesty;  and  it  is  thought,  no  new  systems  are 
likely  to  be  voluntarily  adopted,  but  must  necessarily 
arise  from  some  dreadful  calamity. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  most  affectionately, 

EDMUND  JENINGS. 

London,  August  17,  1768." 

"  DEAR  SIR — In  my  last  letter  to  you,  I  expressed  my 
concern,  that  I  could  not  execute  the  commission  the 
gentlemen  of  Westmoreland  had  entrusted  to  me.  Lord 
Camden,  after  having  appointed  several  different  times 
for  Mr.  West's  attending  on  him,  hath  at  length,  it  seems, 
totally  forgot  his  promise.  The  times  are  so  bad,  that 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE  5} 

no  man  can  be  depended  on,  and  therefore,  although  his 
lordship  has  done  undoubted  service  to  America  and  to 
England  too,  yet,  I  am  not  sure,  if  the  general  ruraour  is 
to  be  believed,  but  that  he  will  adopt  a  system,  in  a  line 
different  from  that,  which  fair  fame  and  honest  inde- 
pendence would  mark  out.* 

Draw  for  the  money,  and  should  his  lordship  at  any 
time  recollect  his  engagement,  and  be  worthy  of  your 
approbation  and  honouring,  I  shall  beg  the  gentlemen, 
to  accept  from  me,  his  portrait. 

I  am,  your  faithful  humble  servant, 

EDMUND  JENINGS." 

Mr.  Lee  and  his  fellow  citizens,  were  very  anxious  to 
have  a  likeness  of  Lord  Chatham  also.  This  was  inti- 
mated to  Mr.  Jenings;  but  as  Lord  Chatham  was  at  the 
head  of  the  ministry,  it  was  thought  indecorous  to  re- 
quest him  to  sit  for  it.  Mr.  Jenings  however,  had  a 
very  fine  likeness  of  him  copied,  and  sent  it,  as  a  present, 
to  the  people  of  Westmoreland,  and  it  is  still  in  the 
court-house  of  that  county.  On  receiving  this  portrait 
Mr.  Lee  wrote  the  following  letter  to  Mr.  Jenings: 

CHANTILLY,  VA. 

MAT  31,  1769. 

"DEAR  SIR — The  gentlemen  of  Westmoreland,  desire 
me  to  return  their  hearty  thanks  to  you,  for  your  very 
genteel  present  of  Lord  Chatham's  picture.  It  arrived 
in  fine  order,  and  is  very  much  admired.  They  propose 
to  place  it  in  the  court  house,  thinking  the  assembly 
may  furnish  themselves,  with  his  lordship's  picture. 

The  gentlemen  are  not  without  hopes,  that  they  may 
yet  obtain  Lord  Camden's  portrait,  as  they  seem  very 
unwilling  to  believe,  that  that  great  man  can  so  aposta- 
tize from  a  virtuous  cause,  so  ably  and  invincibly  de- 
fended by  himself,  as  to  put  it  out,  even,  of  his  own 
power,  to  make  the  American  so  much,  as  doubtful 

*  He  was  mistaken. 


52  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

Dr.  Lee,  my  brother,  can  show  you  the  proceedings  of 
our  last  Assembly,  by  which,  you  may  judge,  how  bright 
the  flame  of  liberty  burns  here,  and  may  surely  con- 
vince a  tyrannous  administration,  that  honesty  and  epuity 
alone,  can  secure  the  cordiality  and  affection  of  Vir- 
ginia. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  your  affectionate  friend, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE." 

In  the  year  1767,  two  acts  affecting  the  colonies 
passed  the  Parliament.  One  was  the  revenue  act  of 
'67,  framed  by  Charles  Townshend,  laying  ataxontea; 
the  other,  was  an  act  requiring  the  legislature  of  the 
colony,  "  to  make  provision  for  quartering  a  part  of  the 
regular  army."  Although  the  tax  on  tea  was  but  three 
pence  per  pound,  Mr.  Lee  quickly  perceived  the  vicious 
principle  assumed,  and  he  renewed  his  efforts  to  awaken 
the  minds  of  his  countrymen  to  the  dangers  that  threat- 
ened them  from  these  acts,  which,  if  once  submitted  to, 
would  (to  use  his  own  words,  quoted  before)  reduce  his 
country  to  a  state  worse  than  that  "of  Egyptian  bond- 
age/' The  reconciliation  produced  by  the  repeal  of  the 
stamp  act,  had  never  been  as  sincere  and  hearty  to  the 
north,  as  it  had  been  to  the  south,  in  consequence  of 
the  trade  laws.  The  late  duties  on  paints,  glass,  and 
tea,  oppressed  the  commerce  of  the  large  trading  towns 
of  the  northern  colonies.  This  state  of  feeling  was  ex- 
hibited, in  the  proceedings  of  the  assembly  of  New 
York.  It  refused  obedience  to  the  act  concerning  the 
billeting  of  the  regular  soldiery.  The  ministry  resented 
this  disobedience,  and  suspended  the  legislative  powers 
of  that  province.  This  proceeding  produced  great  sen- 
sation throughout  the  colonies.  Mr.  Lee,  a  watchful 
sentinel  on  the  walls  of  freedom,  immediately  discerned 
the  approach  of  danger,  and  while  it  was  yet  at  a  dis- 
tance, he  determined  to  make  every  effort,  to  convince 
his  fellow  subjects  in  Virginia,  that  this  measure  of  the 
ministry,  threatened  them  with  equal  danger.  Accord- 
ingly, he  moved,  in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  as  soon  as 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  53 

it  commenced  its  session,  a  petition  to  the  king,  stating 
in  strong  and  pointed  terms,  the  grievances  under  which 
the  colonies  suffered,  in  consequence  of  the  proceedings 
against  the  colony  of  New  York,  and  the  existence  of 
the  revenue  laws,  and  praying  for  a  redress  of  them. 
The  original  draught  of  this  petition,  is  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  author.  The  following  is  a  letter  which  Mr. 
Lee  wrote  to  a  gentleman,  of  influence  in  England,  ou 
these  subjects. 

CHANTILLY,  YA. 

MAHCH  27,  1768. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR — 'Tis  a  pleasing  reflection  to  one 
who  loves  his  country,  that  some  few,  at  least,  are  to  be 
found,  who  watch  over  the  public  good,  and  having  wis- 
dom to  discern  with  spirit  to  promote,  the  general  good, 
will  not  silently  suffer  encroachments  to  be  made  on  the 
rights  and  liberty,  of  the  community.  My  long  acquaint- 
ance with  you,  my  friend,  gives  me  a  right  to  number 
you,  among  such  worthy  citizens.  It  being  a  common 
observation,  does  not  lesson  the  value  of  it,  that  a  pru- 
dent man  should  lend  his  assistance  to  extinguish  the 
flames,  which  had  invaded  the  house  of  his  next  door 
neighbour,  and  not  coldly  wait,  until  the  flame  had 
reached  his  own.  History  does  not  more  clearly  point 
out,  any  fact  than  this,  that  nations  which  have  lapsed 
from  liberty,  to  a  state  of  slavish  subjection,  have  been 
brought  to  this  unhappy  condition,  by  gradual  paces. 
Great  Britain,  it  seems,  having  discovered  the  error  of 
attempting  our  ruin,  by  one  bold  and  general  stroke, 
has,  at  length,  fallen  on  a  method  of  singly  attacking 
the  colonies,  hoping  that  the  others  will  quietly  behold 
the  destruction  of  one,  not  immediately  and  sensibly, 
connected  with  the  rest.  But,  though,  the  billeting  act 
is  not  yet  enforced  upon  us,  we  are  equally  with  New 
York  in  the  view  of  that  oppressive  measure,  far  I  can- 
not agree  to  call  it  law.  An  act  for  suspending  the  le- 
gislature of  that  province,  hangs,  like  a  flaming  sword, 
over  our  heads,  and  requires,  by  all  means,  to  be  re- 


54  t-IF E  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

moved.  The  late  duties  on  paints  and  glass,  though  not 
perhaps,  literally,  a  violation  of  our  rights,  yet  as  the 
connection  hetween  us  and  the  mother  country,  renders 
it  necessary  that  we  should,  excluding  all  other  nations, 
take  manufactures,  only  from  her,  in  this  light,  the  im- 
position becomes  arbitrary,  unjust,  and  destructive  of 
that  mutually  beneficial  connection,  which  every  good 
subject  would  wish  to  see  preserved.  To  obtain  redress, 
sir,  on  these  points,  and  to  inform  posterity  what  were 
our  sentiments  on  them,  it  seems  indispensably  neces- 
sary, that  a  dutiful,  decent,  but  firm  address,  should  be 
presented  to  his  majesty,  by  the  Assembly,  requesting  his 
royal  interposition,  for  the  repeal  of  these  acts.  This 
method,  you  know,  my  friend^  is  constitutional.  The 
subject,  when  aggrieved,  has  a  right  to  appeal  to  the 
sovereign,  for  redress;  and  we  have  his  royal  word  for 
it,  (in  a  late  speech  to  Parliament,)  that  he  will  equally 
protect  the  rights  of  all  his  people. 

The  unhappy  wound,*  which  I  received  in  my  hand, 
will  not  yet  permit  me  to  travel,  and  indeed,  I  am  sorry 
for  it,  as  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  add,  on  this 
occasion,  my  poor  assistance,  to  the  friends  of  liberty, 
contending  for  their  country's  rights. 

I  am,  yours  with  esteem,  &c. 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE." 

The  author,  while  looking  over  a  manuscript  letter- 
book  of  Mr.  Lee,  was  struck  with  the  devotion  with 
which  he  gave  himself  to  the  interest  of  his  country.  It 
seems  to  have  commanded  his  heart  with  unceasing  soli- 
citude. Even  in  his  private  concerns,  he  never  lost  sight 
of  this  subject.  In  a  letter  to  a  merchant  in  London, 
he  enclosed  a  list  of  persons  in  his  county  who  had  sub- 

*  Mr.  Lee  received  a  wound  in  his  hand,  by  the  bursting  of  a 
gun,  while  shooting  swans.  By  this  accident,  he  lost  all  the  fin- 
gers of  one  hand.  He  was,  however,  able  to  go  to  Williamsburg, 
to  the  meeting  of  the  House  of  Burgesses. 


OF  RICHAKD  HENRY  LEE,  ££ 

scribed  for  a  quantity  of  tea;  that  part  of  the  letter  which 
relates  to  the  tea,  cannot  fail  to  interest  the  reader.  In 
the  conclusion  of  it,  he  thus  writes: 

"  I  have  been  concerned  to  find,  that  your  friends  here 
are  much  surprised  and  displeased  at  the  charge  you 
have  made  of  the  parliamentary  duty  on  tea.     I  confess 
it  is  extremely  disagreeable  to  me,  and  I  earnestly  en- 
treat that  you,  sir,  whom  we  esteem  here  as  our  very 
good  friend,  would  not  lend  a  helping  hand  to  deprive 
us  of  the  most  valuable  of  all  possessions,  our  liberty. 
But  certainly  an  arbitrary  ministry  will  for  ever  proceed 
to  tax  and  distress  us,  if  they  find  the  merchants  will 
condescend  to  become  their  collectors,  and  so  make  the 
collection  of  a  duty  easy,  which  otherwise  they  never  can 
get  in.     And  I  am  very  sure,  that  nothing  can  prevent 
the  people  here  from  regarding  the  trade  as  their  most 
deadly  foe,  if  they  join  in  making  easy  of  execution  those 
oppressive  acts.    This  act,  levying  a  duty  on  paper,  glass, 
tea,  &c.  is  so  unjust,  and  so  badly  contrived,  that  it  never 
can  be  executed;  and  you  run  no  risk  here,  however  the 
collectors  may  bully  and  make  a  noise;  for  it  is  certain 
they  do  not  know  what  to  demand,  and  dare  not  detain 
a  ship  on  account  of  these  duties."     Here  follows  the 
subscription  for  the  tea;  the  original  paper,  which  is 
written  by  Mr.  Lee,  (a  copy  was  sent  to  the  merchant,) 
concludes  thus:   "  We,  who  subscribe  this  paper,  do 
oblige  ourselves  to  pay  to  J.  R.  Esq.  Merchant,  in  Lon- 
don, or  his  order,  on  demand,  for  the  quantity  of  tea  by 
each  of  us  subscribed  for.  But  it  is  on  this  express  con- 
dition that  we  desire  the  tea  to  be  sent,  that  Mr.  R.  does 
not  make  the  charge  of  the  late  parliamentary  duty  on 
tea,  as  we  prefer  our  liberty  to  the  gratification  of  our 
palates,  and  do  not  choose  to  drink  our  destruction  in  a 
cup  of  tea.     Given  under  our  hands  and  seals,  this  27th 
June,  1768." 

It  may  not,  perhaps,  be  an  unpleasant  interruption  to 
the  strict  narrative  of  this  Memoir,  to  present  the  reader, 
in  this  place,  with  some  letters  to  Mr.  Lee,  from  his 


56*  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

brother  Arthur  Lee,  Esq.*  who  was,  at  this  time,  in 
London;  and,  from  his  intimacy  with  many  of  the  lead- 
ing characters  in  England  at  that  day,  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  seeing  and  hearing  every  thing  which  had  any 
relation  to  the  colonies.  From  the  first  dawn  of  the  u  new 
colony  system,"  the  party  in  England  which  was  called 
the  "  whig"  or  popular  party,  took  part  with  the  colonies. 
Lords  Chatham,  Camden,  Shelburne,  &c.  and  Home, 
Dunning,  Barre,  were  among  them.     Mr.  Lee  enjoyed 
the  honour  of  the  acquaintance  and  friendship  of  these 
persons.     Hence  his  letters,  particularly  those  written 
in  the  early  stage  of  our  disputes  with  the  mother  coun- 
try, will  be  found  very  interesting  to  politicians.     From 
no  history,  or  collection  of  contemporaneous  papers,  can 
be  obtained  a  more  minute  detail  of  the  circumstances 
of  the  times;  a  more  accurate  acquaintance  with  the 
conspicuous  characters  of  England,  and  with  the  schemes 
and  policy  of  the  different  parties,  which  espoused  or  op- 
posed the  interests  of  the  colonies,  than  from  the  letters 
of  Arthur  Lee  to  his  brother.     One  or  .two  of  these  let- 
ters will  here  follow:  many  others  will  be  found  in  a 
subsequent  part  of  this  Memoir,  and  in  the  Appendix, 
No.  1. 

LONDON,  1767. 

"  Tho^  my  dear  brother's  solicitude  about  my  not  fre- 
quently and  freely  writing  to  him,  is  exceedingly  pleasing 
to  me,  as  it  shows  he  values  my  love,  as  highly  as  I  prize 
his,  yet  I  cannot  acquiesce  in  the  justice  of  his  complaint. 
For  considering  the  great  attention  due  to  the  study  in 
which  I  am  now  engaged,  and  the  many  friends  to  whom 
I  am  bound  to  write,  great  indulgence  should  be  granted 

*  Arthur  Lee  was  an  agent  in  London,  of  the  colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  before  the  Revolution.  He  was  afterwards  one  of 
our  commissioners  at  the  court  of  France  :  he  was  also  commis- 
sioner from  the  United  States  to  Spain  and  Prussia.  On  his  re- 
turn to  America,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  board  of  treasury,  and 
a  member  of  Congress,  for  several  years,  from  Virginia.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  day,  and  an  able  and  distin- 
guished diplomatist. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  57 

to  me,  both  in  point  of  the  frequency  and  length  of  my 
letters.*  Neither,  indeed,  does  the  state  of  things  furnish 
matter  for  much  writing.  The  little  detail  of  politics  is 
too  despicable  to  slander  even  your  leisure  hours  with; 
and  there  is  no  probability  of  any  change  in  men  or  mea- 
sures with  us. 

"  You  will  see  by  the  last  resolution  of  the  bill  of  rights, 
which  I  desired  our  brother  to  send  you,  what  hope  we 
entertain,  and  what  plan  we  have  adopted,  to  obtain  a 
redress  of  grievances.  You  will  know  the  author,  by 
the  style,  If  the  people  cannot  be  roused  to  take  some 
effectual  measures  at  the  next  general  election,  "actum 
est  de  libertate."  Mrs.  M'Cauley  has  written  to  me,  ap- 
proving highly  of  the  proceedings  of  the  bill  of  rights. 
I  am  under  some  apprehension  of  having  lost  the  patro- 
nage of  Lord  Shelburne  and  Col.  Barre,  by  the  part  I 
have  taken  in  the  proceedings.  Their  tools  conducted 
the  attempt  to  dissolve  the  society,  and  destroy  Mr. 
Wilkes,  whether  by  their  particular  direction,  I  do  not 
know.  But  as  I  voted  against  them,  and  as  their  failure 
has  totally  sacrificed  the  popularity  of  Lord  Shelburne, 
it  is  not  improbable,  that  he  will  consider  me  as  a  parti- 
san against  him,  and  therefore  not  entitled  to  his  favour. 
They  are  both  abroad  at  present;  when  they  return,  your 
presents  shall  be  delivered.  But,  whatever  may  happen, 
I  shall  be  satisfied  with  having  acted  honestly.  The 
public  cause,  and  particularly  that  of  America,  which  in- 
duced me  to  engage  in  the  society,  was  the  mover  of  my 
conduct.  Townsend  is  an  opiniated,  overgrown  school- 
boy; Home  is  a  malevolent,  vain,  petulant,  impudent 
priest.  The  former,  in  his  conceit  and  folly,  thought  he 
could  lead  the  city;  the  other,  in  his  vanity  and  knavery, 
conceived  that  his  abilities  were  equal  to  Townsend's 
ambition,  and  that  he  should  be  rewarded.  The  event 

*  Mr.  A.  Lee  was,  at  this  time,  a  student  of  law.  He  became 
a  conspicuous  and  successful  advocate,  and  was  in  habits  of  inti- 
macy with  Dunning  and  Glynn,  and  was  often  engaged  in  cases 
with  them.  He  had  studied  medicine  in  Edinburg,  and  graduated 
with  the  botanical  prize. 

VOL.  I, — H 


58  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

has  shown  how  weak  their  judgment  was,  and  how  iro 
potent  their  endeavours  were,  when  separated  from  those 
who  gave  them  weight  and  importance  with  the  people. 
They  never  appear  in  public  without  being  hissed;  and 
al  a  late  meeting  of  the  livery,  there  were  but  five  who 
voted  for  recommending  Mr.  Townsend  to  the  common 
hall,  as  lord  mayor  for  the  ensuing  year.  Lord  Shel- 
burne  suffers  for  all  their  follies,  and  has,  therefore,  lost 
his  popularity  in  the  city.  Expecting  redress  only  from 
the  people,  I  am  determined  to  stand  with  them,  how^ 
ever  my  particular  interest  might  advise  a  different  course. 
You  know,  by  experience,  how  little  profit,  and  how 
much  obloquy  attends  such  a  principle ;  but  you  know,  too, 
how  much  satisfaction  springs  from  a  conviction  of  its 
rectitude.  The  present  lord  mayor  and  Alderman 
Bridges  will  be  returned  by  the  livery,  and  if  the  alder- 
men choose  Bridges,  he  will  constitute  the  other  his 
locum  tenens,  so  that  popular  councils  will  still  prevail 
in  the  city.  Crosby  is  a  plain,  determined  man,  who 
courts  no  great  man,  and  looks  to  the  people  for  appro- 
bation and  support.  He  will  be  returned  next  year,  with 
Wilkes,  so  that  the  aldermen  will  have  little  to  choose 
between  them,  and  the  liberties  of  the  city  will  be  up- 
held. I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  present,  duck 
and  brandy.  She  appears  very  disconsolate  without  a 
mate.  The  partridges  were,  by  mismanagement,  let 
loose  at  sea,  and  perished  in  the  ocean.* 

The  chief  political  object,  in  Europe,  at  present,  is 
Russia,  unless  a  cession  of  what  she  has  conquered 
should  procure  the  Turk  an  ignominious  peace.  The 
revolt  of  Egypt,  will,  probably,  oblige  the  Ottoman,  to 
sheath  the  Russian  sword,  at  any  price.  Whether  the 
encouraging  of  so  tremendous  a  power,  and  especially, 
the  promoting  of  the  Zarina's  wish  of  establishing  a 
large,  disciplined  and  formidable  navy,  be  sound  policy 
in  us,  to  me,  is  doubtful.  We  may  be  cherishing  a  ser- 
pent, which  will  strike  us  to  the  heart. 

*  Mr.  A.  Lee  was  making  a  collection  of  the  natural  produc- 
tions, &c.  of  America. 


OP  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  59 

1  do  not  think  it  in  the  least,  probable,  that  any  change 
will  take  place  in  administration,  unless  in  consequence 
of  a  war.  That  is  an  event,  which  the  endeavours  of 
the  present  men,  seconded  by  the  disturbances  and  in- 
ability of  France,  will  place  at  a  great  distance.  The 
present  men  do  the  king's  business  better  than  he  could 
find;  why  then  should  he  change  them?  Most  assuredly, 
it  must  be  the  necessity  of  the  last  extremity  which  will 
move  him,  to  admit  a  single  man  of  virtue,  within  the 
circle  of  his  throne.  An  impeaching  Parliament  might 
be  a  more  effectual  remedy  than  a  war ;  but  there  is  still 
less  expectation  of  this,  than  of  that.  The  Lords  Chat- 
ham and  Shelburne,  will  then  only  come  in,  when  it  is 
necessary  to  cultivate  the  people,  to  support  a  war,  or  to 
sooth  the  rage  of  an  impeaching  House  of  Commons," 
&c.  &c. 

"  Very  melancholy,  my  dear  brother,  is  the  prospect  of 
our  affairs,  and  little  apparent  hope,  that  any  attention 
will  be  paid,  to  the  just  rights  of  America.  The  present 
ministry,  arbitrary  and  anti-American  as  they  are,  have 
for  their  opponents,  men,  who,  for  the  most  part,  are 
despotic  in  their  views,  and  who  found  their  opposition 
upon  the  inefficacious  and  pusillanimous  lenity  of  the 
present  proceedings  against  the  colonies.  As  the  views 
of  the  court  are  unquestionably  despotic,  on  the  Ame- 
rican question,  it  is  sure,  that  those  who  talk  in  the  most 
absolute  style,  are  the  most  agreeable.  Temple  and 
Grenville  are  the  men,  I  mean,  with  my  Lord  Egremont, 
whose  principles  are  as  inconsistent  with  liberty,  as  fire 
with  water.  The  present  administration  is  weak,  be- 
cause they  acted  as  oppressors ;  but  should  this  new 
set  come  in,  being  regarded  as  patriots,  they  will  have 
the  stronger  support  in  subverting  the  constitution  of 
America. 

So  circumstanced  here,  the  cause  of  American  liberty 
would  be  desperate  indeed,  if  it  find  not  a  firm  support, 
in  the  virtuous  and  determined  resolution  of  the  people 
of  America.  This  is  our  last,  our  surest  hope,  this  our 
trust  and  refuge.  To  encourage  and  invigorate  this 


60  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

spirit,  must  be  the  constant  endeavour  of  every  patriot, 
si  patriot  volumus,  si  nobis  vivere  cari. 

The  Rockingham  party  have  refused  to  take  the  lead 
in  obtaining  the  repeal  of  the  duty  acts.  The  merchants 
are  very  averse  to  present  any  petition  to  Parliament  for 
that  purpose,  because  it  is  disagreeable  to  the  ministry. 
Possibly  they  may  be  stirred  up,  before  the  holydays  are 
over.  They  do  not  yet  feel  enough.  My  Lord  Shel- 
burne  and  his  adherents,  are  the  wisest  and  soundest 
supporters  of  America ;  but  I  doubt,  whether  they  will 
be  willing  to  take  the  lead.  In  a  few  days  I  go  to  Lord 
Shelburne's  country  seat,  by  express  invitation,  to  spend 
some  time;  while  there,  I  hope  to  animate  him  to  a  more 
vigorous  advocation  of  our  cause. 

The  House  of  Lords  have  passed  several  resolves, 
very  violent  against  all  the  proceedings  at  Boston,  and 
voted  an  address  to  his  majesty,  against  the  treasonable 
practices  suspected  there,  and  to  bring  the  authors  of  them 
over  here,  for  trial.  The  justice  of  this,  they  found  on 
a  statute  of  Henry  Seventh,  which  by  a  resolve  of  the 
house,  they  extend  to  America.  I  will  not  anticipate 
your  reflections  on  this  proceeding.  They  were  sent 
down  to  the  Commons,  and  their  concurrence  desired; 
but  they  have  deferred  the  consideration  of  them,  until 
after  the  holydays,  To  pave  the  way  for  these  measures, 
a  very  partial  presentment  of  papers  was  made  to  the 
house,  by  the  ministry;  all  the  incendiary  letters  of  Go- 
vernor Bernard,  with  the  most  trifling  occurrences  of 
the  "  sons  of  liberty,"  down  to  their  drinking  the  health 
of  Paoli  and  the  Corsicans;  but  the  paragon  of  impu- 
dence, and  malevolence  was,  a  letter  from  the  commis- 
sioners at  Boston,  full  of  misrepresentations  and  invec- 
tive. Nothing  was  read  on  the  other  side,  but  the  Bos- 
ton petition;  and  this  will  be,  forever,  the  treatment  of 
Americans  here;  from  whence,  therefore,  they  are  to 
expect  neither  justice  nor  favour. 

The  public  liberty  here,  has  gained  a  signal  victory 
over  court  despotism,  in  the  election,  of  Sergeant  Glynn, 
Wilkes'  friend  and  advocate,  for  this  county,  against  all 


OF  RICHARD  HENUY  LEE.  ftj 

the  influence  of  Beauchamp  Proctor,  with  an  hired 
mob,  bribery  and  ministerial  influence.  The  party  of 
Mr.  Wiikes,  is  strong  in  the  House  of  Commons.  His 
having  published  the  letter  you  will  receive  with  this, 
prefaced  by  some  strong  animadversions,  on  the  detest- 
able intention  of  its  authors,  has  increased  the  hatred  of 
the  ministry  to  absolute  rage;  in  consequence  of  which, 
they  procured  a  vote  in  the  House  of  Lords,  branding  it 
as  a  seditious  and  inflammatory  libel,  with  a  conference 
to  invite  the  concurrence  of  the  Commons,  but  this  they 
could  not  obtain,  and  therefore,  they  adjourned  the  ques- 
tion until  after  the  holydays,  when  it  will  be  abandoned. 
Then,  too^  a  petition  he  has  presented,  praying  to  be 
permitted  to  prosecute  Philip  Carteret  Webb,  guilty  of 
bribery  and  perjury,  with  the  public  money,  and  to  have 
the  Lords  Sandwich  and  March  examined,  touching  the 
matter,  is  ordered  to  be  heard.  The  Commons  sent  a 
message  to  the  Lords,  desiring  that  those  Peers  might 
attend  in  their  house,  which  was  voted  a  breach  of  pri- 
vilege. The  conference  was  held,  but  the  Commons 
were  firm,  and  the  two  lords  were  permitted  to  attend. 

I  have  dined  with  Wiikes,  in  the  King's  Bench.  He 
speaks  very  warmly  of  America,  and  highly  applauds 
their  proceedings.  The  Farmer's  Letters  are  much  read 
here,  but  to  little  purpose,  though  universally  admired, 
and  no  answer  attempted.  They  continue  of  the  same 
opinion,  without  a  single  reason  for  it,  and  continue  in 
obstinacy,  what  they  began  in  ignorance.  Lord  Hills- 
borough  told  me,  he  was  both  greatly  pleased  and  in- 
formed by  them,  but  he  wished  Mr.  Dickinson  had  ac- 
commodated his  reasoning  to  the  necessity  of  a  supreme 
power.  I  observed,  that  Mr.  Locke  had  executed  that 
with  great  perspicuity.  This  lord  is  affable  and  plausi- 
ble, has  a  routine  of  argument  which  he  uses  to  every 
one,  and  on  all  occasions,  without  giving  time  for  an  an- 
swer. He  appears  to  me  to  be  extremely  shallow,  and 
he  is  detested  in  Ireland,  for  his  arbitrary  principles. 

I  send  you  with  this,  a  number  of  the  North  Briton, 


§2  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

containing  Wilkes'  letter,  the  Public  Advertiser,  and 
two  pamphlets  concerning  America. 

I  have  written  only  two  pieces  published  in  the  Gazet- 
teer, giving  an  account  of  the  proceedings  at  Boston, 
with  some  remarks  on  them.  One  of  them  is  reprinted 
in  the  Gentlemen's  Magazine  for  November.  I  am  me- 
ditating two  pamphlets,  under  the  titles  of  an  Address 
to  the  Merchants,  and  a  Summary  of  the  Arguments  on 
both  sides  of  the  American  Question.  Whether  I  shall 
finish  them  I  cannot  determine.  The  load  of  prejudice 
seems  almost  immoveable,  and  pours  despair,  on  all  our 
attempts  to  bring  this  country,  to  reason. 

My  best  love  attend  you  all — my  cordial  good  wishes 
await  the  friends  of  liberty,  and  their  transactions.  Once 
more  let  me  remind  you,  that  no  confidence  is  to  be  re- 
posed, in  the  justice  or  mercy  of  Great  Britain;  and  that 
American  liberty,  must  be  entirely  of  American  fabric. 

Adieu,  my  dear  brother, 

ARTHUR  LEE."* 

In  the  year  1768,  it  had  become  evident  to  every  per- 
son, even  of  ordinary  sagacity,  that  a  struggle  for  colo- 
nial liberty  must  take  place.  The  idea  was  terrible,  to 
the  greater  part  of  the  people.  The  stoutest  hearts 
were  agitated  by  the  anticipation.  It  was  not  so  with 
Mr.  Lee.  He,  even  then,  believed,  that  the  colonies 
would  be  able,  if  united,  to  maintain,  at  least,  a  long 
and  honourable  effort  for  liberty ;  and  that  the  policy  of 
France  especially,  and  of  other  European  nations,  would 
lead  them  to  succour  them.  To  produce  unanimity  so 
necessary  to  success,  was  the  great  object,  which  en- 
gaged, from  this  time,  his  unceasing  efforts,  and  unwea- 
ried reflections.  His  biographer  thinks,  he  can  assert 
with  the  greatest  truth,  that  Mr.  Lee  was  the  first  per- 
son, who  suggested  the  idea  of  corresponding  com- 
mittees to  be  organized  by  the  legislatures  of  the  colo- 


years 


See  further  on  these  subjects,  in  his  correspondence  in  the 
s  '68  and  '69,  in  Appendix,  No.  1. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  (jg 

Bies;   and  of  corresponding  clubs  or  societies  among 
"  the  lovers  of  liberty,  in  the  several  states,"  for  the 
purpose  of  informing  the  people,  on  the  subject  of  their 
constitutional  rights,  and  of  giving  them  the  earliest  in- 
formation of  their  violation;  and  of  urging  them  to  a 
timely  and  united  resistance.  His  object,  from  this  time, 
was  independence.     AH  the  schemes,  he  henceforth 
suggested,  all  the  measures  he   advised,  contemplated 
much  more  than  a  mere  redress  of  grievances.     It  has 
been  seen  that  as  far  back  as  the  year  '64,  he  had 
hinted  the  idea,  that  "  this  step  of  the  mother  country, 
(the  declaratory  act  of  Grenville,)  which  was  the  first 
attack  on  our  rights,  and  the  fruitful  parent  of  all  the 
rest,  though  intended  to  oppress,  and  keep  us  low,  in 
order  to  secure  our  dependence  may  be  subversive  of 
that  end/'  The  possibility,  of  which  he  spoke,  appeared 
to  him,  to  be  rapidly  approaching  to  a  probability,  that 
an  early  and  judicious  understanding  should  exist  be- 
tween the  legislatures,  and  also,  between  the  most  influ- 
ential men  in  the  colonies,  seemed  an  object  of  great 
importance;  indeed,  this  appeared  to  him,  the  only  ef- 
fectual mode  of  producing  united  action,  and  consenta- 
neous sentiment. 

In  1773,  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia,  about  the 
same  time  with  the  Massachusetts  Assembly,  adopted 
the  idea,  and  carried  it  into  effect,  by  appointing  a  stand- 
ing committee  of  six  persons,  "  whose  business  it  shall 
be,  to  obtain  the  most  early  and  authentic  intelligence 
of  all  such  acts  and  resolutions  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment, or  proceedings  of  administration,  as  may  relate  to, 
or  affect  the  British  colonies  in  America;  and  to  keep 
up  and  maintain  a  correspondence  and  communication 
with  our  sister  colonies,  respecting  those  important  con- 
siderations, and  the  result  of  their  proceedings,  from 
time  to  time,  to  lay  before  this  house."    Mr.  Lee  was 
one  of  this  committee.  The  motion  for  its  appointment, 
was  made  by  Dabney  Can*,  Esq.,  a  young  gentleman 
of  great  promise,  whose  speech,  on  the  occasion,  evin- 
ced superior  talents,  and  ardent  patriotism.    This  mea- 


64,  WFE  ASD  COIiKESPONbENCE 

sure,  it  has  been  said  by  historians  of  Britain  and 
America,  was  the  most  efficient  means  of  opposition, 
which  had  yet  been  devised  to  direct  the  energies  of  the 
people,  and  to  produce  that  firm  union  which  finally  se- 
cured American  liberty.  Ample  praise  has  been  given 
to  the  Legislatures  of  Massachusetts  and  Virginia,  for 
having  been  the  first  to  appoint  corresponding  commit- 
tees. From  the  honour  due  to  them  as  collective  bodies, 
(he  author  would  not  detract.  But.  for  the  sagacity  of 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  may  be  claimed  the  merit  of  hav- 
ing first  suggested  this  measure,  and  of  having  formed 
private  corresponding  societies  among  the  leading  men 
of  the  several  colonies,  four  or  five  years,  before  the 
plan  was  thus  publicly  adopted.  General  Gadsden,  of 
South  Carolina,  a  few  years  before  his  death,  remarked, 
while  addressing  an  assemblage  of  citizens  on  the  fourth 
of  July,  that  Richard  Henry  Lee  had  invited  him,  to 
become  a  member  of  a  private  corresponding  society  as 
early  as  the  year  '68,  which,  Mr.  Lee  informed  him,  he 
was  endeavouring  to  establish,  between  the  influential 
men  in  the  colonies.  He  stated,  that  Mr.  Lee  described 
his  object  to  be,  to  obtain  a  mutual  pledge  from  the 
members,  to  write  for  the  public  journals  or  papers, 
of  their  respective  colonies,  and  converse  with,  and  in- 
form the  people,  on  the  subject  of  their  rights,  and  their 
wrongs,  and  upon  all  seasonable  occasions,  to  impress 
upon  their  minds,  the  necessity  of  a  struggle  with 
Great  Britain,  for  the  ultimate  establishment  of  inde- 
pendence. 

In  support  of  the  honour  here  claimed  for  Mr.  Lee, 
as  being  the  original  devisor  of  corresponding  commit- 
tees between  the  colonial  assemblies  and  of  private  cor- 
responding clubs,  as  early  as  the  year  "68,  the  following 
letter,  taken  from  the  original  copy  in  Mr.  Lee's  hand- 
writing, is  presented  to  the  reader.  It  was  addressed  to 
Mr.  Dickinson.  In  it,  Mr.  Lee  invites  him,  to  com- 
mence a  correspondence  with  him,  and  proposes  the 
consideration  of  the  expediency  and  importance  of  esta- 
blishing corresponding  committees  between  the  several 


or  RlCHARt)  HENRY  LEE.  ^5 

legislatures^  and  an  association  of  the  friends  of  liberty 
in  the  colonies.  In  another  letter  written  about  the 
same  time,  he  endeavours  to  enforce  his  opinion,  that 
the  policy  heretofore  pur-sued  by  the  ministry,  against 
America,  would  not  be  abandoned,  although  the  stamp 
act  had  been  repealed.  He  expresses  his  opinion,  that 
the  declaratory  act,  which  accompanied  the  repeal,  was> 
a  just  cause  of  complaint,  to  the  colonies;  and  that  un- 
less its  assertion  of  the  unlimited  authority  "  to  bind 
America  in  all  cases/'  was  denied  by  their  legislatures, 
"  the  poison,  unattended  by  its  antidote,  might  be 
to  the  destruction  of  the  body  politic." 


CHANTILLY,  VA. 

JULY  25, 


"  SIR  —  As  a  friend  to  the  just  and  proper  rights  of 
human  nature,  but  particularly  as  an  American,  I  ac- 
knowledge great  obligation  to  you,  for  the  wise  and  well- 
timed  care,  you  have  taken  of  our  common  liberty. 

Whilst  men  in  general,  are  thoughtless  and  indolent, 
spirit  and  wisdom  are  necessary  to  rouse  and  inform 
minds,  that  incline  to  what  is  right,  and  wish  happiness, 
You,  sir,  on  this  occasion,  have  the  honour  of  giving  a 
just  alarm,  and  of  demonstrating  the  late  measures  to  be, 
at  once,  destructive  of  public  liberty,  and  in  violation  of 
those  rights  which  God  and  nature  have  given  us. 

To  prevent  the  success  of  this  unjust  system,  an 
union  of  counsel  and  action  among  all  the  colonies,  is 
undoubtedly  necessary.  The  politician  of  Italy  deliver- 
ed the  result  of  reason  and  experience,  when  he  pro- 
posed the  way  to  conquest,  by  division.  How  to  effect 
this  union,  in  the  wisest  and  firmest  manner,  perhaps, 
time  and  much  reflection,  only,  can  show.  But  well  to 
understand  each  other,  and  timely  to  be  informed  of 
what  passes,  both  here  and  in  Great  Britain,  it  would 
seem  that  not  only  select  committees  should  be  appointed 
by  all  the  colonies,  but  that  a  private  correspondence 
should  be  conducted  between  the  lovers  of  liberty  in 
every  province. 

VOL.  I.  —  i 


66  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

From  my  brother,  Dr.  Lee,  I  have  been  informed  of 
the  kindness,  with  which  you  have  expressed  your 
willingness  to  begin  a  correspondence  with  me.  To 
effectuate  this  good  purpose,  sir,  I  have  taken  the  ear- 
liest opportunity  of  informing  you,  that  when  you  are 
pleased  to  write,  your  letter  to  me  by  post,  directed  to 
the  care  of  Dr.  Mortimer,  Hobb's  Hole,  Virginia,  will 
meet  with  a  safe  conveyance. 

I  am,  sir,  with  singular  esteem,  your  most  obedient 
and  humble  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

To  Jonx  Dicicix^oy, 

Philadelphia." 

CHANTILLY,  VA. 

NOVEMBER  26,  1768. 

"  DEAR  SIR — That  I  might  not  be  troublesome,  is 
the  only  reason,  which  has  hitherto  prevented  me  from 
answering  your  agreeable  favour  of  the  first  of  Au- 
gust.* 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  any  consideration 
could  prevail,  with  so  potent  and  so  flourishing  a  peo- 
ple, as  those  of  Pennsylvania,  to  be  silent,  when  the 
liberty  of  America  is  thus  dangerously  invaded;  when 
her  sister  colonies  are  generously  contending  against 
oppression,  and  an  union  of  the  whole,  would,  infallibly 
establish  the  public  freedom  and  security.  To  what 
purpose  do  her  merchants  toil,  and  her  people  labour 
for  wealth,  if  arbitrary  will,  uninfluenced  by  reason,  and 
urged  by  interest,  shall  reap  the  harvest  of  their  dili- 
gence and  industry?  I  wish  her  people  may  not  disco- 
ver, when  it  is  too  late,  that  the  blessings  of  liberty,  flow 
not  from  timid  and  selfish  policy.  I  do  not  observe  that 
your  Assembly  have  expressed,  even  the  least  dislike  to 
the  late  duty  act,  although  all  England  now  agrees,  its 

*  The  author  regrets  that  he  has  not  found  Mr.  Dickinson's 
answer  to  Mr.  Lee's  first  letter.  His  manuscripts  were,  for  a 
long  lime  carelessly  kept,  and  a  great  number  of  them,  have 
been  lost. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  (J7 

principal  intention  to  be,  to  establish  a  precedent  for 
American  taxation,  by  the  British  Parliament. 

Our  long  expected  governor  has  arrived.*  His  lord- 
ship's good  sense,  affability  and  politeness,  give  general 
pleasure;  but,  how  his  political  opinions  agree  with  those 
of  Virginia,  remains  to  be  known.  Our  late  Assembly 
is  dissolved,  and  writs  have  been  issued  for  the  choice 
of  a  new  one,  to  meet,  it  is  said,  in  May  next;  at  which 
meeting,  it  is  reported,  we  are  to  be  informed,  that  his 
majesty  having  seen,  disapproves  of  our  objections  to 
the,  late  duty  acts,  and  is  determined  to  support  the  au- 
thority, and  directs  the  act  of  the  sixth  of  his  own  reign, 
commonly  called  the  Bill  of  Rights,  to  be  laid  before 
our  Assembly.  It  is  supposed,  that  the  silence  of  the 
House  on  this  occasion,  would  be  highly  acceptable  to 
government;  but  the  propriety  of  being  silent,  is  a  ques- 
tion much  agitated  here.  Say  the  time-serving  men, 
"  the  Assembly  has  denied,  and  the  king  has  asserted 
those  rights,  the  matter  ought  to  rest,  not  taking  the 
least  notice  of  it/'  and  this,  on  a  supposition,  that  the 
principle  asserted,  will  not  again  be  carried  into  execu- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  it  is  contended,  that  silence 
in  this  case  must,  by  all  the  world,  be  deemed  a  tacit 
giving  up  our  rights,  and  an  acknowledgement,  that  the 
British  Parliament  may,  at  pleasure,  tax  the  unrepre- 
sented Americans;  that  every  kind  of  reason  makes  it 
probable,  that  destructive  execution  would  soon  follow 
so  dangerous  an  admission.  The  facts,  it  seems,  are 
these: — on  the  stamp  act  being  known  here,  the  Assem- 
bly asserted  their  right  of  exemption  from  British  taxes: 
since  that  time,  the  Parliament,  by  an  act,  declare  the 
binding  force  of  their  legislature  over  America,  in  every 
instance.  But  this  act  never  having  been  laid  before 
the  Assembly  by  authority,  and  the  stamp  act  being  re- 
pealed, the  bill  of  rights  passed  off  unnoticed.  How- 
ever, the  world  soon  saw  an  intention  to  avail  themselves 
of  this  declaratory  act,  by  the  passage  of  the  ill-judged 

"*  Lord  Bottetoim 


b'£  LIFE  AND  COKKES^OMJEKCE 

duty  bill.  To  this  act,  the  Assembly  again  object,  and 
by  petition,  entreat  his  majesty's  interposition,  for  the 
security  of  their  rights,  against  the  principles  of  that 
act.  Should  a  new  Assembly  be  told,  that  these  objec- 
tions were  disapproved,  that  the  authority  of  the  British 
Parliament  must  be  supported,  and  the  bill  of  rights  be 
laid  before  them,  by  the  highest  authority,  how  would 
silence  in  such  a  case,  be  construed?  The  reception  ot 
the  act,  would  be  registered,  but  no  objection  would  fol- 
low. The  poison,  unattended  by  the  antidote,  may  be 
used  for  the  destruction  of  the  body  politic.  I  confess. 
I  cannot  go  along  with  those  who  would  derive  security 
from  submission.  Is  it  to  be  supposed,  that  so  sen- 
sible a  people  as  the  English,  would  disturb  the  peace 
of  all  North  America,  and  endanger  their  most  valuable 
trade  here,  for  the  poor  purpose  of  establishing  a  prin- 
ciple, they  never  meant  to  execute!  This,  it  seems  to- 
me, would  be  sottishness,  not  wisdom.  When  oppor- 
tunity permits,  I  should  be  extremely  glad  to  know  your 
sentiments  on  these  important  points,  for  indeed,  I  am 
never  so  wedded  to  any  opinion,  that  I  cannot  yield  to 
clear  and  superior  reason. 

I  am,  with  very  particular  esteem,  your  obedient  and 
humble  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

To  Jonrsr  DICKIXSOX, 

Philadelphia/' 

Mr.  Dickinson,  in  a  congenial  spirit,  and  with  corres- 
pondent sentiments,  thus  replies: — 

"SiR — I  have  the  pleasure  to  find  my  sentiments 
agreeing  entirely  with  those  expressed  in  your  favour  of 
the  twenty-sixth  of  November.  Claims  so  unreasonable 
in  their  nature,  made  on  private  persons,  may  be  past 
over  in  silence  and  contempt.  But  in  affairs  of  a  higher 
dignity,  transacted  between  different  states,  or  different 
orders  of  the  same  state,  the  preservation  of  mutual 
respect,  and  the  fatal  tendency  of  precedents,  seemindis- 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  59 

pensibly  to  require  objections,  at  once  firm  and  respect- 
ful to  be  made,  where  the  parties  have  a  right  or  a  cause 
to  object.      I  presume,  no  "time-serving"  gentlemen 
would  choose,  in  case  the  declaratory  act  is  laid  before 
the  House  by  government,  that  their  silence  should  be 
construed  into  a  contempt  of  the  claim.  As  little  should 
I  imagine,  would  any  good  citizen  have  it  attributed  to 
fear,  to  a  validity  of  the  stamp  act,  or  a  want  of  virtue 
in  the  Assembly.     Yet  to  one  of  them,  will  the  people 
of  England,  and  to  another,  will  the  people  of  America, 
attribute  it.     Any  thing  done  by  the  Assembly,  before 
the  Parliamentary  declaration  of  a  right  to  bind  Ame- 
rica, in  all  cases  whatsoever,  was  formally  notified  to 
them,  will  be  regarded  by  the  administration  as  waved,  if 
that  declaration  is  submissively  received.    I  am  credibly 
informed,  that  Lord  Chatham  has  said,  '•  that  in  the  time 
of  the  stamp  act,  he  could  well  say,  that  Great  Britain 
could  not  constitutionally  tax  America,  but  that  he  could 
not  well  say  this,  since  the  declaratory  act/'  It  is  said  to  be 
another  expression  of  that  statesman,  that  the  adminis- 
tration should,  on  the  present  occasion,  a  pursue  vigor- 
ous measures,  with  moderation."     I  apprehend,  that  by 
reversing  the  maxim  of  his  lordship,  we  shall  take  the 
true  course  for  promoting  our  own  interests,  that  is,  by 
pursuing  moderate  measures,  with  vigour.  We  are  push- 
ing a  vessel  against  a  strong  stream.     Over  hasty  zeal, 
will  infallibly  hurt  us;  and  on  the  other  hand,  if  we 
indolently  intermit  our  efforts  for  a  moment,  we  shall  be 
hurried  down  the  current.    Virginia,  sir,  has  maintained 
the  common  cause,  with  such  attention,  spirit,  and  tem- 
per, as  has  gained  her  the  highest  degree  of  reputation, 
among  the  other  colonies.     It  is  as  much  in  her  power, 
to  dishearten  them,  as  to  encourage  them.     I  suppose, 
all  that  can  be  apprehended  from  the  resentment  of 
Government,  is  a  dissolution.     A  measure!  that  if  the 
ministers  would  but  consider  the  reign  of  the  Stuarts, 
they  might  be  sure,  would  only  strengthen  the  opposition 
to  their  designs.     Weak  men!  that  mandates  dictated 
by  passion,  can  serve  the  crown,  or  injure  the  cause  of 


70  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

freedom  among  those,  who  value  that  blessing  as  they 
ought.  The  king's  speech  is  throughout,  a  very  extra- 
ordinary one.  We  perceive  with  grief,  but  not  with 
despondence,  that  the  conduct  of  his  majesty's  most  du- 
tiful subjects,  has  been  grossly  misrepresented  to  our 
excellent  sovereign.  The  ministry  no  doubt,  are  anxi- 
ous that  the  Parliament  should  be  as  angry,  and  as  im- 
prudent, as  they  have  been.  Our  Assembly  has  sent  some 
petition,  similar  to  those  of  the  other  colonies. 
I  am,  sir,  with  great  esteem,  yours,  &c. 

JOHN  DICKINSON. 

To  Col.  RicHAiii)  HENRY  LKK, 

Chantilly,  Va.  January  16,  1769." 

In  the  session  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia, 
which  followed  the  dates  of  the  above  letters,  Mr.  Lee 
early  called  the  attention  of  that  body,  to  the  subjects  dis- 
cussed in  them.    The  house  adopted  spirited  resolutions^ 
denying  the  right  of  the  mother  country,  to  bind  the  co- 
lonies in  all  cases  whatsoever,  and  firmly  remonstrated 
against  the  act  authorizing  the  crown,  to  have  the  in- 
habitants ^f  the  colonies  transported  to  England  for  trial, 
for  offences  alleged  to  have  been  committed  in  the  co- 
lonies.    This  act,  they  denounced  as  a  direct  and  un- 
disguised violation  of  the  constitution;  so  strong  was 
their  language,  that  even  "  the   amiable  and  popular 
Bottetourl"  was  offended,    and  dissolved  the  house  so 
soon  as  he  was  informed  that  it  had  adopted  such  reso- 
lutions.*    Thus  it  happened,  as  Mr.  Lee  had  predicted, 
when  he  first  heard  of  the  act  of  the  Parliament,  sus- 
pending the  legislative  power  of  the  province  of  New- 
York,  that  unless  the  colonies  made  common  cause, 
with  New  York,  on  this  occasion,  the  ministry  would 
make  an  effort,  to  suppress  all  legislative  resistance  in 
every  other  colony.     This   was  verified  in  Massacbu- 
sets  and  Virginia. 

The  resolutions  just  mentioned,  gave  alarm  and  un- 
easiness, to  many  good  men,  both  in,  and  oat  of  the 

*  See  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  p.  86 -Z 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  7| 

house,  who  were  opposed  to  the  measures  of  the  mother 
country.     They  feared  the  result  of  so  strong  and  point- 
ed a  denial,  of  that,   which  the  Parliament  of  Eng- 
land claimed  as  one  of  its  fundamental  rights.     They 
believed  that  the  ministers  would  not  again  attempt  to 
put  in  practice,  what  they  held  in  theory;  they  fondly 
hoped,  that  better  counsels  would  yet  be  followed,  and 
that  the  colonies  would  soon  be  restored,  to  their  for- 
mer state  of  constitutional  liberty,  and  (would  once  more) 
participate  in  the  security  and  glory  of  the  parent  state. 
This,  however,  was  not  the  belief,  these  were  not  the 
hopes,  of  Mr.  Lee.    He  anticipated  no  such  events;  and 
he  did  not  fear  to  assert  the  rights  of  his  country,  even 
at  the  hazard  of  exciting  the  resentment  of  England. 
His  language  was,  as  it  has  been  seen,  "  /  cannot  go 
along  with  those,  who  would  derive  our  security  from 
our  submission."*    He  did  not  shrink  from  a  vindication, 
of  the  language  and  principles  of  the  resolutions;  but 
maintained  their  truth  and  propriety,  in  firm  and  ener- 
getic language,  in  the  following  letter  to  Lord  Shel- 
burne,  at  that  time  one  of  the  most  distinguished  states- 
men of  Britain. 

CHANTILLV,  VA. 

MAT,  31,  1769. 

"Mr  LORD — The.wisdom  and  goodness,  with  which 
your  lordship  has  patronised  America,  claims  the  reve- 
rence of  all  its  inhabitants.     As  an  individual  of  this 
country  I  am  greatly  honoured  by  any  service  that  will 
be  acceptable  to  your  lordship;  and  now  take  the  liberty 
to  send  you  a  Virginia  almanac,  and  the  last  Virginia 
Gazette,  containing  the  proceedings  of  our  late  Assem- 
bly.    These  proceedings  rny  lord,  may,  to  some,  ap- 
pear the  overflowings  of  a  seditious  and  disloyal  madness  : 
but  your  lordship's  just  and  generous  attachment  to  the 
proper  rights  and  liberty  of  mankind,  will  discover  in 
them,  nothing  more  than  a  necessary  and  manly  asser- 
tion, of  social  privileges  founded  in  reason,  guaranteed 

*  In  the  foregoing  letter  to  Mr.  Dicfcenson. 


72  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

by  the  English  constitution,  and  rendered  sacred  by  a 
possession  of  near  two  hundred  years,  that  is,  my  lord, 
from  the  first  settlement  of  North  America,  until  a  late 
period.  When  your  lordship  afforded  the  Americans 
your  protection,  it  was  given  to  a  people,  who  are  cer- 
tainly loyal,  very  warmly  attached  to  their  mother  coun- 
try, and  who  wish  its  prosperity,  with  unfeigned  hearti- 
ness. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  your  lordship's 

most  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

The  Ilight  Honourable  the  Earl 
of  SHELBCHNE.  in  London.''^ 

This  letter  was  presented  to  Lord  Shelburne  by 
Arthur  Lee,  Esq.,  a  known  and  able  writer  on  the  popu- 
lar side  of  the  politics  of  the  day,  and  high  in  the  confi- 
dence of  the  leaders  of  the  whig  party.  His  letters  in 
reply  to  his  brother,  give  a  very  interesting  account  of 
the  politics  of  the  principal  men  in  England,  and  of  the 
prospects  of  America  in  the  year  1769. 

"  My  DEAR  BROTHER — I  have  received  all  your  fa- 
vours, but  none  with  more  pleasure  than  that  of  the 
16th  July,  which  assures  me  of  your  having  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  that  terrible  fall.  God  grant  that 
it  may  be  the  last  bitter  drop  in  your  bitter  cup,  and 
that  your  future  life  may  be  one  uriifiterrupted  stream  of 
happiness. 

Your  letter,  &c.,I  myself  presented  to  Lord  Shelburne, 
at  his  own  house,  where  I  lately  spent  a  week  with  him. 
He  desires  me  to  return  his  thanks  for  them.  Grenville 
has  had  the  art  of  turning  the  present  opposition  to  an 
infamous  administration,  somewhat  to  his  advantage; 
and  by  uniting  with  Chatham,  Temple,  and  Rocking- 
ham,  is  aiming  at  a  resumption  of  that  power  which  he 
so  much  misused.  With  but  small  abilities,  he  has 
much  art,  so  that  no  man  has  more  influence  in  the 
House  of  Commons;  he  is  endowed  with  a  perseverance 
in  the  pursuit  of  power,  never  to  be  overcome,  and  ca- 


OF  RICIIARt)  HENRY  LEE.  *J3 

pablc  of  using  any  artifice,  and  submitting  to  any  mean- 
ness that  may  promote  his  ambitious  purposes.     Upheld 
')y  these  supports,  nothing  prevents  his  promotion  but 
the  unfeigned  piety  of  the  court,  with  whom  revenge  is 
virtue.     The  affront  given  by  him  to  a  certan  lady,  in 
the  regency  bill,  occasioned  his  dismission,  and  will,  in 
all  probability,  be  an  insurmountable  bar  to  his  ambi- 
tion.    So  far  is  her  vice,  a  virtue,  operating  the  good 
of  the  nation,  in  the  gratification  of  her  malice.  Should 
the  complaints  of  the  people  prevail  on  the  king  to  dis- 
miss his  present  ministers,  most  probably  Lord  Chatham 
will  be  applied  to,  for  the  formation  of  a  new  administra- 
tion.    Here  then  will  be  a  struggle  of  Lord  Chatham, 
(as  he  has  certainly  united  with  Grenville,)  should  he 
insist  on  his  admission.     That  the  dowager's  enmity 
would  prevail  over  Lord  Chatham's  influence,  is  beyond 
a  question;  but  policy  may  induce  her  to  dissemble,  (a 
virtue  not  yet  banished  from  St.  James',)  and  Grenvillc 
be  admitted.     Whether  Lord   Shelburne   will   find   a 
place,  or  accept  one,  I  cannot  venture  to  conjecture. 
I  think  his  virtues  and  abilities  will  force  him  into 
power,  whether  soon,  or  among  the  present  abandoned 
crew,  I  cannot  determine.     Be  this  as  it  may,  I  think 
he  is  the  only  one  attached  to  us  from  principle;  from 
policy,  there  are  many  against  opposing  us;  as  Lord 
Chatham,  Ridimond^and  Rockingham.     Temple  and 
Grenville  are  our  determined  foes;  but  whether  they 
will  not  think  it  policy  to  let  our  rights  remain  unques- 
tioned, is  doubtful.     As  I  perceived,  it  was  likely  they 
would  come  in,  if  at  all,  on  popular  grounds,  I  have 
laboured  much  to  make  the  cause  of  America  popular, 
in  which,  if  I  had  been  assisted  by  the  American  agents, 
I  have  not  the  least  doubt  of  having  succeeded.     But 
the  only  duty  an  American  agent  has  to  do,  is  to  make  a 
very  formal  and  humble  visit  to  White  Hall,  with  any 
paper  his  Assembly  sends  him — He  leaves  it  to  the  plea- 
sure of  the  minister,  and  thinks  his  duty  is  done — 'Tis 
not  all,  who  will  do  even  this  paltry  service;  and  Mr 
Abercrombie  has  not  eondescended  to  take  the  le 
VOL.  i. — K 


74  LIFE  AND  COttKESPONDENCE 

notice  of  the  order*  of  council  for  co-operating  with  the 
agent.  What  reason  has  America  to  expect  any  thing 
further,  when  by  far  the  greater  number  of  her  agents 
are  unknown  here,  of  no  abilities,  no  rank,  or  if  of  any, 
of  a  bad  character;  some  of  them,  menial  ploughmen, 
all  of  them,  servile  expectants. 

Mr.  Jenings  intended  the  picture  he  sent  you  as  a 
present,  and  is  therefore  offended  that  it  is  mentioned 
publicly  as  a  purchase  with  the  subscription  money, 
which  is  still  in  his  hands.     As  there  is  no  probability 
of  getting  Lord  Camden  to  sit,  I  could  wish  the  sub- 
scribers to  be  prevailed  on  to  order  Lord  Shelburne's 
to  be  sent,  in  gratitude  for  his  having  divided  the  lords 
in  favour  of  their  rights.     He,  I  think,  will  have  no 
objections  to  gratifying  us,  for  his  principles  remain  un- 
altered.    You  will  see  our  agent  on  the  most  infamous 
list  of  voters  for  Colonels  Lutterel  and  Brentford,  than 
which  nothing  can  more  demonstrate  his  servile  de- 
pendence on  administration;  when  applied  to,  he  refused 
to  draw  up  for  the  tobacco  merchants,  a  petition  against 
the  revenue  acts,  on  a  pretence,  that  as  they  had  not  treat- 
ed  him  with  respect,  he  would  not  have  any  thing  to  do 
with  them.  But  his  vote  will  explain  his  refusal.  Should 
this  conduct  have  any  influence  in  Virginia  to  his  preju- 
dice, as  I  think  in  truth,  it  ought,  I  need  not  tell  you  I 
should  be  happy  to  serve  in  his  p^ce.     IT  Mr.  Nicholas 
would  join  you,  one  would  imagiue  the  point  would  be 
carried.     It  would  certainly  enable  me  to  get  into  parlia- 
ment, and  by  that  method,  promote  the  interest  not  only 
of  Virginia,  but  of  all  America.     Had  I  been  in  this  cha- 
racter a  year  ago,  I  could  have  made  the  cause  of  America 
the  cause  of  Middlesex,  for  they  are  in  truth,  the  same. 
As  nothing  is  more  in  my  wish  than  this  cause,  I  should 
like  to  have  my  inclinations  seconded  by  my  situation, 
which,  as  agent  of  the  Assembly,  would  be  certainly 
effected. 

Yours  affectionately, 

ARTHUR  LEE, 

IMWICH,  September  18th,  1769." 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  75 

"  DEAR  BROTHER. — I  wrote  to  you  lately,  and  probably 
the  same  conveyance  will  bring  you  this  letter.  It  is 
with  much  pleasure  I  can  assure  you,  that  Lords  Shel- 
burne,  Chatham,  and  Camden,  are  determined  to  unite 
once  more  in  supporting  the  cause  of  America  against 
the  present  weak  and  wicked  administration.  I  am  at 
present  at  Lord  Shelburne's,  in  the  country,  and  you  may 
depend  on  what  I  say  concerning  our  friends.  Every 
day  makes  our  cause  more  popular,  and  I  think  the 
ministry  will  find  the  opposition  too  strong  to  attempt 
any  forcible  measure;  and  you  well  know  how  little  their 
artifices  will  avail  them.  I  have  endeavoured,  by  mixing 
popular  subjects  here,  with  that  of  America,  to  bring  the 
signature  of  Junius  Americanus  into  estimation,  and  by 
that  means  to  gain  a  more  easy  ear  to  the  discussion  of 
American  grievances — I  am  in  hopes  of  succeeding. 
Colonel  Barre  is  of  opinion,  that  America  stands  on 
excellent  ground,  and  need  not  be  in  the  least  appre- 
hension of  what  her  enemies  can  do.  I  have  just  heard 
from  our  brother  William  that  the  election  has  been 

patriotic,  and  that has  met  with  the  contempt 

and  detestation  he  merits.  My  heart  is  at  ease,  and  I 
trust  we  must  be  free.  I  think  myself  much  honoured 
by  the  name  of  Virginia,  and  feel  infinite  gratitude  to 
the  people  at  large,  for  the  noble  spirit  with  which  they 
have  resisted  all  the  attempts  of  art,  and  honoured  the 
cause  of  liberty. 

I  do  not  know  any  thing  which  would  gratify  my 
wishes  more,  than  the  agency  of  Virginia.  I  should 
devote  myself  with  so  much  cordiality  to  its  duties,  and 
obey  with  so  much  joy,  the  commands  of  a  spirited 
people  asserting  their  rights. 

Farewell,  and  believe  me  as  I  am  ever, 

Yours  affectionately, 

ARTHUR  LEE. 

Bow  WOOD,  December  3d,  1769." 

Such  was  the  state  of  politics  in  England  when  the 
resolutions  of  the  Virginia  Assembly  were  received,  and 


7b"  LUE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

the  effect  which  they  produced  on  the  most  temperas 
of  the  colonies,  may  be  seen  from  the  following  letter., 
addressed  to  Mr.  Lee,  by  that  wise  and  virtuous  patriot 
Mr.  Dickinson. 

m 

"  SIR — I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  papers 
sent  by  Mr.  Wormley,  and  sincerely  congratulate  you, 
on  the  noble  conduct  of  your  colony.  Administration 
and  its  unjust  tools  are  certainly  prompted,  by  as  detest- 
able a  spirit,  and  directed  by  as  despicable  a  policy,  as 
ever  distracted  the  British  empire.  If  they  have  the 
least  virtue  or  wisdom  slumbering  in  them,  I  think,  it 
must  be  roused  by  reading  your  resolves  and  address. 
But,  indeed,  from  them,  we  are  not  to  look  for  justice; 
our  own  integrity  and  prudence  must  be  our  guardian; 
and,  if  the  other  colonies  persevere,  as  I  hope  they 
will,  in  emulating  the  generous  example  given  them,  in 
Virginia,  tyranny  and  folly  will,  unquestionably,  have 
cause  lo  deplore  their  shameful  and  contemptible  efforts 
to  extinguish  American  liberty.  I  make  no  doubt, 
sir,  but  that  it  will  give  you  particular  pleasure,  as 
you  could  scarcely  expect  it,  that  your  ardor  has  warm- 
ed, even  this  most  temperate  province.  It  was,  once, 
the  interest  of  particular  men,  that  this  colony  should 
make  a  great  bustle  about  small  matters.  It  then  raged 
with  patriotism.  It  is  now  the  interest  of  the  same 
men,  that  it  shall  promote  submission  to  administration- 
It  therefore  sleeps,  lulled  by  loyalty.  The  troublesome 
vigilance  and  vigour  of  our  neighbours,  have  repeat- 
edly made  us  yawn,  and  give  a  forced  and  feeble  assent 
to  what  they  were  doing.  If  you  proceed,  I  do  not 
know  but  that  we  shall  get  quite  awake,  notwithstand- 
ing the  large  doses  of  opium,  that  have  been  administer- 
ed to  us.  Certain  it  is,  that  in  the  last  letters  written 
to  England,  by  a  committee  of  merchants,  they  applaud 
your  behaviour;  and  yet  in  that  committee  there  are 
many  persons,  who  are  very  fond  of  public  tranquillity. 
Perhaps  these  people  approved  these  letters,  as  believ- 
ing they  would  not  be  published  :  but  I  think  their  join- 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  77 

ing  in  them  proceeds  from  the  general  approbation  of 
your  measures.  Our  Assembly,  indeed,  are  too  hum- 
ble subjects  to  give  administration  any  cause  to  think, 
they  will  encourage  any  discontents  on  this  continent. 
And  therefore  though  they  had  an  opportunity  of  taking 
the  lead,  as  Virginia  had  done  in  opposition  to  some 
of  the  vilest  acts  of  despotism,  that  ever  violated  the 
rights  of  America,  yet  meekly  and  peaceably  the  good 
men,  having  well  provided  against  the  trespassing  spirit 
of  encroaching  hogs,  left  the  most  dangerous  and  daring 
outrages  against  the  liberty  of  themselves,  uncensured 
and  unnoticed.  Quite  different  has  been  the  conduct 
of  the  Assembly  of  the  lower  counties.  In  a  conversa- 
tion with  one  of  the  principal  members  of  that  house, 
we  were  of  opinion,  that  it  would  be  a  just  mark  of  re- 
spect to  your  Assembly,  to  adopt  your  resolves  verba- 
tim. This  has  been  done;  and  I  hope  every  Assembly 
on  the  continent  will  concur  with  you.  We  shall  come 
in,  in  the  eleventh  hour. 

I  am,  sir,  with  great  esteem,  &c. 

JOHN  DICKINSON, 

Philadelphia,  June  22,  1769. 
To  Col.  RICHAIUQ  LEE." 

IN  the  session  of  1769,  Mr.  Lee  was  chairman  of  the 
committee  of  courts  of  justice.  To  it  many  important 
subjects  were  referred,  which  did  not  relate  directly,  to 
the  administration  of  justice.  The  industry  with  which 
Mr.  Lee  laboured  in  any  business  assigned  to  him,  made 
him  one  of  the  conspicuous  amongst  those  who  were 
denominated  u  business  men."  From  the  beginning  of 
his  active  career  in  the  Assembly,  he  had  exhibited  a 
rare  combination  of  genius,  patience,  and  labour;  thus 
early  preparing  himself  for  those  cares,  and  toils  in  the 
committees  of  the  Continental  Congress,  for  the  endu- 
rance of  which,  he  was  as  confessedly  remarkable,  as 
he  was  for  his  wisdom  and  ability.  •  During  this  session, 
be  brought  in  a  report,  on  the  subject  of  opening  and 
improving  the  navigation  of  the  River  Potomac,  as  far 
as  Fort  Cumberland,  as  it  was  then  called.  This  re^ 


7S  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

port  is  here  mentioned,  not  only  because  it  exhibits 
judgment,  and  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  statistical 
advantages  of  the  country,  but  because  the  subject  of 
internal  improvement,  has  become  justly  popular  and 
interesting.  The  very  object  of  Mr.  Lee's  report  is 
at  this  moment,  likely  to  become  a  national  one,  and  of 
incalculable  benefit  to  a  large  portion  of  the  country. 
It  is  believed  that  Mr.  Lee  was  the  first  person  who  di- 
gested any  plan  of  the  kind,  in  this  country;  certainly 
the  first  who  formed  a  plan,  for  the  improvement  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Potomac  River,  as  high  up  as  Fort 
Cumberland. 


OP  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  79 


CHAPTER  IV, 

THE  address  and   resolutions  (as  has  been  stated) 
so  alarmed  the  governor  of  Virginia,  as  to  induce  him 
to  dissolve  the  House  of  Burgesses.     But  this  measure 
had  not  the  same  effect  in  this  case,  as  in  that  of  the 
dissolution  of  the  legislature  of  New  York.     The  leaders 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  had  already  denied  the  au- 
thority of  Parliament,  and  were  now  preparing  their 
minds  to  resist  it;  among  them  Mr.  Lee  was  still  dis- 
tinguished for  the  energy,  perseverence,  and  boldness 
with  which  he  asserted  the  rights  of  the  colonies. 

As  soon  as  the  governor  had  dissolved  the  Assembly, 
the  members  convened  at  a  private  house.     They  drew 
up  articles  of  association,   binding  themselves  not  to 
import  British  manufactures,  or  to  use  them,  while  the 
revenue  acts  remained  in  force,  and  earnestly  exhorted 
the  people  to  pursue  a  similar  course.     Mr.  Lee  was 
active  in  bringing  about  this  measure.     By  his  example 
and  persuasion,  he  procured  an  extensive  and  hearty 
co-operation  in  this  very  efficient  method  of  resistance. 
The    non-importing    association    spread    extensively 
throughout  the  colony,  and  the  people  adhered  to  its 
prohibitions  and  endured  with  admirable  patience,  the 
diminution  of  the  luxuries,  and  even  the  comforts  of  life 
to  which  it  subjected  them.     Mr.  Lee  in  his  own  per- 
son and  in  his  family,  adhered  strictly  to  the  articles  of 
the  Association  ;  and  was  as  active  and  vigilant  in  watch- 
ing those,  whom  he  suspected   of  a  reluctant   acqui- 
escence to  the  object,  for  which  it  had  been  formed,  as 
he  was  fearless  in  exposing  any  violation  that  he  de- 
tected, for  it  was  the  duty  of  every  member  so  far  as  in 
his  power,  to  see  that  no  designed  breach  of  the  pledges 
given  by  the  members,  should  pass  unpunished* 


8Q  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

The  articles  of  association  were  kept  with  patriotic 
fidelity  throughout  the  colonies;  and,  as  those  who  sug- 
gested the  scheme  had  predicted,  the  suspension  of  the 
trade  to  the  colonies  created,  in  England,  a  powerful 
opposition  to  the  measures  of  the  ministry.  This  ought 
to  have  been  sufficient  to  arrest  them  in  their  blind  and 
haughty  career.  Folly  itself  might  have  been  taught  to 
think,  but  theirs  seems  to  have  been  mingled  with  mad- 
ness. "  Q,uem  Deus  vult  perdere,  prius  dementat." 

Mr.  Lee,  prior  to  the  period  when  the  idea  of  non- 
intercourse  was  thus  reduced  to  a  system,  had  resolved 
not  to  import  for  his  own  use  any  article  of  luxury  or 
comfort,  while  the  duty  acts  remained  unrepealed.  To 
the  domestic  loom  he  had  recourse  for  clothing  for  him- 
self and  family;  and  for  "  wine  and  oil,"  he  resorted  to 
his  own  hills.  In  the  following  letter  to  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Fothergill,  of  London,  written  about  this  time,  the 
reader  will  find  Mr.  Lee,  presenting  to  an  English  whig, 
and  a  friend  of  America,  (towards  whom  Mr.  Lee's  heart 
ever  warmed)  a  sample  of  wine,  which  a  principle  of 
liberty  had  extracted  from  the  native  grape  of  his  country. 

«  CHANTILLY,  VA.  MAY,  1769. 

SIR — Your  general  humanity  deserves    the  esteem 
of  all;  but  permit  me  to  say,  sir,  that  your  particular 
kindness  to  Americans  claims  their  reverence  and  gratn 
tude.     When,  therefore,  my  brother,  Dr.  Lee,  informed 
me  that  you  wished  to  have  some  wine  from  our  native 
grape,  I  lost  no  time  in  procuring  the  best  for  you. 
Captain  Johnson  will  deliver  you  a  small  cask,  together 
with  a  few  bottles  of  older  wine.     The  first  is  of  last 
year's  vintage,  and  that  in  bottles  is  several  years  old. 
This  wine  is,  at  present,  of  the  true  flavour  of  our  grape, 
and  is  very  gently  acid,  a  quality  natural  to  this  fruit.    I 
wish  the  season,  and  the  heat  of  the  tobacco  load,  may 
not  injure  it. 

I  am,  with  very  singular  esteem,  sir,  your  most  humble 
and  obedient  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

JXr.  FOTHERGILI,,  London*" 


OP  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  $| 

The  regulations  of  the  non-importing  association,  con- 
tinue to  be  strictly  and  patriotically  observed,  during  the 
years  1770  and  '71.  Mr.  Lee  did  not  permit  his  mind 
to  relax  its  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  colonies.  He 
kept  a  constant  correspondence  with  his  brother  Arthur 
Lee,  and  other  gentlemen  in  England,  diligently  diffusing 
every  information  he  could  obtain,  which  bore  any  rela- 
tion to  the  interests  of  the  colonies.  So  long  as  the  duty 
acts  continued  in  force,  he  exhorted  his  fellow  citizens 
to  endure  every  trial  and  deprivation,  rather  than  encou- 
rage a  commerce  which  flourished  most  vigorously  when 
their  liberties  were  most  strongly  violated. 

The  prospects  of  the  colonies  were  bright  or  gloomy, 
as  statesmen  of  different  political  opinions  and  connexions 
were  called,  by  the  king,  to  the  administration.  Hence 
the  political  changes,  and  even  intrigues  of  those  days, 
were  deeply  important  to  the  people  of  America;  and  are, 
even  now,  interesting,  since  they  form  links  in  that  chain 
of  events,  which  led  to  our  long  and  successful  struggle. 
The  following  letters  cannot  fail,  then,  to  entertain  the 
reader,  and  to  afford  matter  for  political  reflection. 
They  form  a  part  of  the  correspondence  which  Mr.  Lee 
carried  on,  at  this  time,  with  a  view  to  inform  his  fellow 
citizens  on  their  political  concerns,  and  to  prepare  them 
for  the  crisis  which  he  saw  approaching. 

"  MY  DEAR  BROTHER — Colonel  Barre  is  just  arrived 
here,  and  informs  me  that  Governor  Bernard  is  to  be 
before  the  king  and  council,  agreeable  to  the  Massachu- 
setts' petition,  with  a  view  to  deceive  the  world  into  a 
belief  of  his  innocence,  not  to  make  any  inquiry  into  his 
guilt.  With  this  view,  only  six  days'  notice  is  given  to 
the  agent  to  summon  his  witnesses,  three  thousand  miles 
distant.  The  wickedness  of  this  administration  can  be 
equalled  only  by  its  weakness.  For  must  not  this  be 
most  egregious,  to  expect  the  world  will  be  deceived  by 
so  infamous  an  artifice.  The  agent  has  delivered  a  pe- 
tition to  the  council  for  a  delay;  whether  that  will  suc- 
ceed, I  know  not,  but  it  will  render  their  injustice  more 

VOL.  i. — L 


§g  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

glaring.    He  is  an  upright,  spirited,  and  independent  old 

man,  and  therefore  most  obnoxious  to  Lord  H gh, 

who  has  made  some  mean  attempts  to  injure  him.  The 
ministry  has  so  affronted  the  Duke  of  Rutland,  as  to 
make  him  resign.  It  is  expected  the  Marquis  of  Granby 
will  follow  him.  'Tis  well  fhey  are  so  rash,  as  abler  men, 
in  these  times  of  corruption,  might  endanger  our  liberties. 
I  find  my  health  better  than  when  with  you.  I  pray 
heaven  to  guard  you. 

Yours — Adieu. 

ARTHUR  LEE. 

BATH,  November  9th,  1769." 

"LONDON,  MAY  20th,  1770. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER — The  Parliament  being  now 
prorogued,  concludes  all  hopes  of  any  redress  of  griev- 
ances, either  for  America  or  Great  Britain.  Several 
motions  were,  a  week  ago,  made  in  the  Commons,  and 
repeated  in  the  Lords,  by  Mr.  Burke  and  the  Duke  of 
Richmond,  tending  to  censure  all  the  measures  of  this 
administration,  relative  to  America,  especially  my  Lord 
Hillsborough's  rescinding  and  promising  letters.  They 
were  all  rescinded  in  the  lump,  by  a  previous  question, 
on  which  the  ministerial  majority  was  three  to  one.  Lord 
Chatham  has  made  two  remarkable  motions  this  session, 
one  for  dissolving  the  Parliament,  and  one  censuring 
those  who  advised  the  rejection  of  the  London  remon- 
strance. They  were  fruitless,  being  rejected  by  a  great 
majority.  No  ministry  ever  had  less  argument,  and 
greater  influence. 

In  the  American  debate,  Lord  Hillsborough  declared 
that  all  hopes  of  reconciliation  with  America  were  vain, 
unless  the  whole  authority  of  Parliament  was  given  up, 
for  that  it  was  the  navigation  act  we  were  aiming  to 
overthrow.  Such  are  the  fixed  impressions  of  this  dull, 
arbitrary  lord,  and  the  prejudices  which  lie  and  his  tools 
labour,  but  too  successfully,  to  infuse  into  others. 

The  city  of  London,  unawed  by  their  late  rejection, 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  83 

has  voted  a  second  remonstrance  to  the  throne,  in  very 
spirited  terms,  which  is  to  be  presented  next  Wednesday. 
Mr.  Wilkes  sits  and  acts  as  alderman,  with  great 
applause.  The  friends  of  America  here,  are  appre- 
hensive that  you  will  not  abide  by  your  non-importation 
agreements,  on  which  all  prospects  of  a  re-establishment 
of  our  invaded  rights  depends.  I  can  hardly  think  that 
my  countrymen  can  be  so  wanting  to  themselves,  as  to 
give  their  enemies  their  wish,  and  sacrifice  for  a  tempo- 
rary profit  or  convenience,  the  liberties  of  themselves  and 
their  posterity.  Adieu, 

Yours,  &c. 

ARTHUR  LEE." 

"Mr  DEAR  BROTHER, — Lord  Hillsborough  is  out. 
The  ostensible  cause  is,  that  he  dissented  to  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  government  where  our  petition  is  locat- 
ed. But  the  true  reason  is,  that  the  Bedford  party 
were  determined  to  remove  him,  to  provide  for  one  of 
themselves.  But  in  this  they  were  disappointed,  for 
Lord  North  threatened  to  resign.  They  were  obliged 
to  sooth  him  by  the  appointment  of  his  half-brother, 
Lord  Dartmouth.  This  place  was  originally  promised 
him,  but  the  king,  as  his  custom  is,  deceived  him ;  and  it 
is  thought  rather  shabby  in  him  to  accept  of  it  now. 
However,  he  is  a  man  of  good  principles,  of  a  fair  cha- 
racter, of  exemplary  life,  and  a  friend  to  America.  I 
have  no  doubt,  but  that  as  far  as  it  depends  upon  him, 
which  indeed  is  but  little,  the  colonies  will  not  have 
much  cause  to  complain. 

There  is  no  opposition  now,  nor  any  forming.  At 
the  meetimg  of  the  next  Parliament,  the  leaders  will  hope 
that  the  memory  of  their  former  follies  may  be  obliterated, 
and  again  unite  in  that  opposition  which  they  so  shame- 
fully abandoned.  Nothing  is  more  uncertain  than  the 
revolutions  of  states,  nor  can  any  one  form  a  tolerable 
conjecture  from  the  appearances  of  the  political  sky. 
This  is  our  only  comfort  in  the  midst  of  a  calm  which 
seems  to  resign  every  thing  to  the  will  of  a  court,  which 


AND  "CORRESPONDENCE 

is  meditating  and  executing  a  systematic  destruction  of 
our  liberties. 

I  expect  to  be  at  the  bar,  quite  in  time  for  the  next 
general  election,  and  to  be  employed  in  some  contested 
election,  which  is  a  fair  introduction  into  a  valuable 
branch  of  the  profession,  that  of  pleading  before  the 
House  of  Commons. 

Yours,  &c. 
ARTHUR 


To  add  to  the  wrongs  and  grievances  under  which 
the  colonies  were  now  labouring,  the  Parliament  deter- 
mined, in  the  year  1772,  to  establish  in  the  provinces, 
courts,  with  admiralty  jurisdiction  and  powers.  Before 
these  courts,  suits  were  to  be  tried  at  the  instance  of  the 
crown.  As  the  trial  by  jury  was  not  a  part  of  their 
proceedings,  and  the  judges  were  to  be  appointed  by 
the  crown,  the  property  of  the  colonists  would  become, 
in  all  probability,  a  sacrifice  to  unconstitutional  law, 
arbitrarily  imposed,  rigidly  construed,  and  tyrannically 
enforced.  This  measure  excited  serious  apprehensions, 
and  the  indignation  of  the  popular  leaders  of  the  colo- 
nies. Mr.  Lee,  as  usual,  directed  his  whole  attention 
to  this  fresh  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  country.  As 
soon  as  the  House  of  Burgesses  met,  he  moved  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions: 

"That  an  humble  and  dutiful  petition  be  presented  to 
his  majesty,  entreating  that  his  majesty  would  be  gra- 
ciously pleased  to  take  into  his  royal  consideration,  the 
grievances  under  which  his  faithful  subjects  in  Virginia, 
continue  to  labour,  by  having  their  property  daily  taken 
from  them  by  laws,  to  which  they  have  never  consented, 
either  personally,  or  by  their  representatives;  by  being 
subjected  to  the  decision  of  distant  and  arbitrary  courts 
of  admiralty,  when  trial  by  jury,  the  surest  support  of 
property  is  denied,  by  which  means  his  majesty's  ever 
dutiful  subjects.  of  Virginia,  are  deprived  of  those  great 
and  fundamental  rights,  which  they,  and  their  ancestors, 
have  conceived,  until  lately,  to  be  their  unalienable 


OP  UICHARD  HENRY  LEE- 


yjghts;  their  constitutional  rights,  as  subjects  of  the 
British  Empire,  and  their  right  by  charter,  granted  to 
the  first  settlers  of  this  country,  by  his  majesty's  royal 
ancestors,  kings  of  England.  That  to  restore  the  hap- 
piness and  security  of  his  majesty's  faithful  subjects  of 
this  colony,  his  majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to 
recommend  to  his  Parliament,  the  repeal  of  the  acts 
lately  passed,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  revenue  in 
America,  and  for  subjecting  American  property  to  the 
determination  of  admiralty  courts,  where  the  constitu- 
tional trial  by  jury  is  not  permitted,  but  where  distance 
and  interest  conspire  to  ruin  the  innocent." 

In  the  same  year,  an  occurrence  took  place  in  Rhode 

Island,  which  awakened  the  vengeance  of  the  ministry. 

The  people  of  Providence,  in  that  state,  indignant  at 

the  manner,  in  which  the  officer  of  the  port  executed 

the  provision  of  the  duty  acts,  seized  and  burned  the 

Gaspie    schooner,  having  ou  board   merchandise,   on 

which  the  duties  were  charged,  and  the  use  of  which,  was 

prohibited  by  the  non-importing  association  of  that  town. 

A  court  to  inquire  into  the  circumstances  of  the  case 

was  constituted.     However  indefensible  the  act  was  on 

the  part  of  the  people,  it  is  indisputable,  that  it  did  not 

authorize  the  extraordinary,  extra-judicial,  and  military 

court  thus  established.     The  act  of  1769,  authorizing 

"  to  apprehend  persons  in  America,  and  convey  them  to 

England  for  trial,"  contrary  to  every  principle  of  the  Eng- 

lish constitution,  was  now,  for  the  first  time,  to  be  car- 

ried into  execution.    This  atrocious  violation  of  the 

rights  of  the  colonies,  did  not  fail  to  excite  the  indigna- 

tion and  denunciations  of  Mr.  Lee.      So  soon  as  he- 

heard  of  the  establishing  of  this  court,  he  commenced 

a  correspondence  with  his  friends  to  the  north,  whom  he 

had  before  enlisted  in  a  corresponding  club,  and  re- 

quested information  on  the  nature,  object,  and  powers 

01^  the  court  of  inquiry.     He  diffused  widely  the  infor- 

mation received,  and  endeavoured  to  awaken  his  fellow 

ciuzens  to  their  danger,  and  prepare  them  for  a  struggle, 

which  he  now  declared  to  be  the  duty  of  the  colonies, 


86  Ltt'E  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

to  meet  with  fortitude  and  vigour.  The  author  has  se- 
lected his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  and 
Mr.  Dickinson  on  this  subject.  The  letter  to  Mr.  Adams 
here  given,  is  introductory  to  a  long  correspondence 
with  that  virtuous  and  intrepid  patriot.  It  shows,  what 
indeed,  all  his  letters  evince,  how  ardent  his  patriotism 
was,  and  how  near  to  his  heart,  was  the  cause  of  his 
country.  No  age  or  nation  can  exhibit  evidences  of 
more  disinterested  love  of  country,  associated  with  more 
coolness  of  judgment  and  dignity  of  sentiment,  than  the 
letters  of  these  three  great  men  present,  to  the  admira- 
tion of  their  posterity. 

[Letter  from  R  H.  Lee,  to  Samuel  Adams.} 

"CHANTILLY,  VA. 

FEBKUAK*  4,  1773. 

SIR — From  a  person  quite  unknown  to  you,  some 
apology  may  be  necessary  for  this  letter.  The  name  of 
my  brother,  Dr.  Arthur  Lee,  of  London,  may  perhaps, 
furnish  me  with  this  apology.  To  be  firmly  attached  to 
the  cause  of  liberty  on  virtuous  principles,  is  a  power- 
ful cause  of  union,  and  renders  proper,  the  most  easy 
communication  of  sentiment,  however  artfully  disunion 
may  be  promoted  and  encouraged  by  tyrants,  and  their 
abettors.  If  this  be  true  in  general,  how  more  certainly 
is  it  so,  in  that  particular  state  of  affairs,  in  which  every 
scheme  that  cunning  can  form,  or  power  execute,  is 
practised  to  reduce  to  slavery,  so  considerable  a  portion 
of  the  human  species,  as  North  America  does,  and  may 
contain.  Every  day's  experience  proves  this,  to  an  at- 
tentive observer.  Among  other  instances  in  proof,  if  I 
mistake  not,  the  manner  of  resenting  the  loss  of  the 
Gaspie,  is  one.  At  this  distance,  and  through  the  un- 
certain medium  of  newspapers,  we  may  never,  perhaps, 
have  received  a  just  account  of  this  affair.  I  should  be  ex- 
tremely glad,  sir,  when  your  leisure  permits,  to  have  as 
true  a  state  of  the  matter,  as  the  public  with  you,  has 
been  furnished  with.  At  all  events,  this  military  parade  ap* 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  87 

pears  extraordinary,  unless  the  intention  be,  to  violate 
all  law  and  legal  forms,  in  order  to  establish  the  minis- 
terial favourite,  but  fatal  precedent,  of  removing  Ameri- 
cans beyond  the  water,  to  be  tried  for  supposed  offences 
committed  here.  This  is  so  unreasonable,  and  so  uncon- 
stitutional a  stretch  of  power,  that  I  hope  it  will  never 
be  permitted  to  take  place,  while  a  spark  of  virtue,  or 
one  manly  sentiment  remains  in  America.  The  primary 
end  of  government  seems  to  be,  the  security  of  life  and 
property;  but  this  ministerial  law,  would,  if  acquiesced 
in,  totally  defeat  every  idea  of  social  security  and  happi- 
ness. You  may  easily,  sir,  perceive,  that  1  understand  my- 
self, writing  to  a  firm  and  worthy  friend  of  the  just 
rights  and  liberty  of  America,  by  the  freedom  with 
which  this  letter  is  penned.  Captain  Snow,  of  your 
town,  who  comes  frequently  here,  and  who  takes  care 
of  this,  will  bring  me  any  letter  you  may  be  pleased  to 
favour  me  with. 

I  am,  sir,  with  singular  esteem,  yours,  &c. 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

To  SAMUEL  ADAMS,  Esq.,  Boston." 

[.Mr.  Adams'  Reply.] 

"BOSTON,  APHIL  10,  1773. 

SIR — Your  letter  to  me  of  the  fourth  of  February 
last,  I  received  with  singular  pleasure,  not  only  because 
I  had  long  wished  for  a  correspondence  with  some  gen- 
tleman in  Virginia,  but  more  particularly,  because  I  had 
frequently  heard  of  your  character  and  merit,  as  a  warm 
advocate  of  virtue  and  liberty.  I  had  often  thought  it 
a  misfortune,  rather  than  a  fault  in  the  friends  of  Ame- 
rican independence  and  freedom,  not  taking  care  to 
open  every  channel  of  communication.  The  colonies 
are  all  embarked  on  the  same  bottom.  The  liberties  of 
all,  are  alike  invaded  by  the  same  haughty  power.  The 
conspirators  against  their  common  rights,  have  indeed, 
exerted  their  brutal  force,  or  applied  their  insidious  acts 
differently,  in  the  several  colonies,  as  they  have  thought, 


88  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

it  would  best  serve  their  purpose  of  oppression  and 
tyranny.  How  necessary,  therefore,  that  all  should  be 
early  acquainted  with  the  particular  circumstances  of 
each,  in  order,  that  the  wisdom  and  strength  of  the 
whole,  may  be  employed  upon  every  occasion.  We  have 
heard  of  bloodshed,  and  even  civil  war,  in  our  sister 
colony  of  North  Carolina;  and  how  strange  is  it,  that 
the  best  account  we  have  of  that  tragical  scene,  should 
be  brought  to  us  from  England. 

This  province,  and  this  town  especially,  have  suffer- 
ed a  great  share  of  ministerial  wrath  and  insolence. 
But,  God  be  thanked,  there  is,  I  trust,  a  spirit  prevailing 
which  will  not  submit  to  slavery.     The  compliance  of 
New  York  in  making  annual  provision  for  a  military 
force  designed  to  carry  acts  of  tyranny  into  execution, 
the  timidity  of  some,  and  the  silence  of  others,  are  dis- 
couraging.    But  the  active  vigilance,  the  manly  gene- 
rosity, and  the  steady  perseverance  of  Virginia  and 
South  Carolina,  give  us  reason  to  hope,  that  the  fire  of 
true  liberty  and  patriotism,  will  at  length  spread  itself 
through  the  continent;  the  consequence  would  be,  the 
acquisition  of  all  we  wish  for.     The  friends  of  liberty  in 
this  town,  have  lately  made  a  successful  attempt  to  obtain 
an  explicit  political  sentiment  of  a  great  number  of  the 
towns  of  this  province,  and  the  number  is  daily  increas- 
ing.    The  very  attempt  was  alarming  to  our  adversa- 
ries, and  the  happy  effects  of  it,  mortifying  to  them.     I 
would  propose  it  for  your  consideration,  whether  the 
establishment  of  committees  of  correspondence  among 
the  several  towns  in  every  colony,  would  tend  to  pro- 
mote that  general  union,  upon  which  the  security  of  the 
whole  depends.     The  reception  of  the  truly  patriotic 
resolves  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia,  gladden 
the  hearts  of  all  who  are  friends  to  liberty.     Our  com- 
mittee of  correspondence  had  a  special  meeting  on  the 
occasion,   and    determined   to    circulate    immediately, 
printed  copies  of  them,  in  every  town  in  the  province, 
in  order  to  make  them  as  extensively  useful  as  possible. 
I  am  desired  by  them,  to  assure  you  of  their  venera- 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  §£ 

tion  for  your  most  ancient  colony,  and  their  unfeigned 
esteem  for  the  gentlemen  of  your  committee.  This 
indeed,  is  a  poor  return — I  hope  you  will  have  the  hearty 
concurrence  of  every  Assembly  on  the  continent.  It  is 
a  measure  which  will  be  attended  with  great  and  good 
consequences.  Our  General  Assembly  is  dissolved,  and 
writs  will  soon  be  issued,  according  to  the  charter,  for 
a  new  Assembly,  to  be  holden  the  last  Wednesday  in 
May  next.  I  think  I  can  almost  assure  you,  there  will 
be  a  return  of  such  members  as  will  heartily  co-operate 
with  you  in  your  spirited  measures.  The  enormous 
stride  in  erecting  what  may  be  called  a  court  of  inquisition 
in  America,  is  sufficient  to  excite  indignation  in  every 
heart  capable  of  feeling. 

I  am  expecting  an  authentic  copy  of  that  commission, 
which  I  shall  send  to  you  by  the  first  opportunity,  after 
I  have  received  it.  The  letter  from  the  new  secretary 
of  state  to  the  governor  of  Rhode  Island,  which,  possi- 
bly you  may  have  seen  in  the  newspapers,  may  be  de- 
pended upon  as  genuine.  I  received  it  from  a  gentleman 
of  the  Council  of  that  colony,  who  took  it  from  the 
original.  1  wish  the  Assembly  of  that  province  had  acted 
with  more  firmness  than  they  have  done;  but  as  the 
court  of  inquiry  is  adjourned,  they  may  possibly  have 
another  trial.  I  have  a  thousand  things  to  say  to  you, 
but  am  prevented  from  want  of  time,  having  had  but  an 
hour's  notice  of  the  sailing  of  this  vessel.  I  cannot 
conclude,  however,  without  assuring  you,  that  a  letter 
from  you,  as  often  as  your  leisure  admits,  would  lay  me 
under  great  obligations. 

I  am,  sir,  in  strict  truth,  your  humble  servant, 

SAMUEL  ADAMS. 

To  RICHABD  HEZTBY  LEE,  Esq." 

It  has  been  seen  already,  that  Mr.  Lee  had,  several 
years  before  the  year  1773,  suggested  the  idea,  not  only 
of  corresponding  committees  between  the  friends  of 
liberty  in  the  several  colonies,  but  of  such  committees 
between  the  colonial  legislatures.  In  the  spring  session 

VOL.  i. — M 


90  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

of  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia,  in  the  year  *7S5 
the  House  adopted  several  resolutions,  declaring  the  ex- 
pediency of  such  committees  between  the  legislatures 
of  the  colonies,  and  urging  upon  them  the  adoption  of 
the  measure.  These  resolutions  appointed  persons  to 
act  as  such  a  committee,  and  Mr.  Lee  was  one  of  them. 
Beside  the  general  and  standing  instructions,  the  special 
instruction  was  given  to  them  "  that  they  do,  without 
delay,  inform  themselves  of  the  principles  and  authority, 
on  which  was  constituted  a  court  of  inquiry,  said  to  have 
been  lately  held  in  Rhode  Island,  with  power  to  trans- 
port persons  accused  of  offences  committed  in  America, 
to  places  beyond  the  seas/' 

Mr.  Lee,  as  it  has  been  shown,  had  been  seeking  for 
information  ou  this  subject.  In  the  following  corres- 
pondence with  Mr.  Dickinson,  (as  a  member  of  the 
committee,)  he  informs  him  of  the  institution  of  the 
committee  of  correspondence,  and  begs  for  information, 
on  the  subject  of  the  court  of  inquiry  in  Rhode  Island. 
He  reiterates  his  opinion,  stated  in  his  first  correspond- 
ence with  that  gentleman,  of  the  great  importance  of  the 
adoption  of  corresponding  committees  between  the  se- 
veral legislatures. 

"  CHANTILLY,  VA. 

APRIL  4,  1773. 

SIR — I  should  not  have  been  silent  so  long,  if  any 
important  considerations  had  made  writing  necessary. 
In  this  quarter,  much  alarm  has  been  created  by  a  new 
court  of  criminal  jurisdiction,  which  it  is  said,  has  lately 
been  opened  in  Rhode  Island.  Neither  the  power,  nor  the 
object  of  this  court,  have  been  perfectly  understood 
here;  but  in  general,  we  have  understood,  that  it  was 
designed  to  put  into  execution  the  dangerous  advice  of 
the  two  Houses  of  Parliament  in  1769,  to  seize  obnox- 
ious Americans,  and  convey  them  to  England  for  trial. 
When  our  Assembly  met  lately,  they  were  not  furnish- 
ed with  proper  documents  on  this  subject.  But  they 
have  now  adopted  a  measure,  which  from  the  beginning, 


OP  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  Q| 

they  should  have  fixed  on,  as  leading  to  that  union  and 
perfect  understanding  with  each  other,  on  which  the  po- 
litical salvation  of  America  depends.  I  have  enclosed 
you,  that  part  of  our  Journal,  which  relates  to  that  mat- 
ter. You  will  observe,  sir,  that  full  scope  is  given,  to  a 
large  and  thorough  union  of  councils,  though  our  lan- 
guage is  so  contrived,  as  to  prevent  the  enemies  of 
America,  from  hurrying  this  transaction  into  the  vortex 
of  treason,  whither  they  have  carried  every  honest  attempt 
to  defend  ourselves,  from  their  tyrannous  designs,  to  de- 
stroy our  constitutional  liberty.  I  hope  sincerely,  that 
every  colony  on  the  continent,  will  adopt  these  commit- 
tees of  correspondence  and  inquiry.  I  should  be  much 
obliged,  sir,  with  your  sentiments  on  the  Rhode  Island 
court,  and  with  the  knowledge  you  have,  of  its  powers 
and  object. 

I  am,  sir,  with  great  esteem,  your  most  obedient  and 
humble  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

To  Joozf  DICKINSOK, 

Philadelphia." 

[Mr.  John  Dickinson's  Reply.] 

tc  SIR — I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you,  for  your  favour  of 
the  4th  of  last  April.  The  measure  adopted  by  your 
Assembly  for  promoting  correspondence  among  the 
colonies,  is  certainly  very  prudent,  and  1  doubt  not, 
would  be  very  successful,  if  every  colony  was  influenced 
by  the  same  well  directed  undeviating  zeal,  for  the  li- 
berty and  happiness  of  America,  that  actuates  the  As- 
sembly of  Virginia.  Some  good  I  hope  will  result  from 
your  generous  attention  to  the  interests  of  those  co- 
lonies, however  inattentive  several  may  be  to  their  best 
interests,  blessing,  and  freedom. 

As  to  the  proceedings  in  Rhode  Island,  they  are  the 
moat  insulting  violations  of  the  rights  of  Americans,  that 
could  be  devised.  Some  time  in  February  last,  I  think, 
I  received  a  letter  from  several  gentlemen  of  that  place. 


9g  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

who  were  appointed  by  their  Assembly  to  answer  a  mes 
sage  of  their  governor,  containing  paragraphs  of  a  letter 
from  Lord  Dartmouth.  From  these  it  appears  that  the 
court  to  be  appointed  in  Rhode  Island,  was  formed  c<  for 
inquiring  into,  and  making  report  to  his  majesty,  of  all 
the  circumstances,  relative  to  the  attacking,  plunder- 
ing, and  burning  the  Gaspie  schooner,  for  delivering 
the  offenders  to  the  care  and  custody  of  Rear  Admiral 
Montague,  or  to  the  commander  in  chief  of  all  his  ma- 
jesty's ships  in  Ameria,  for  the  time  being,  to  be  brought 
to  England  for  trial,  calling  upon  Generel  Gage,  who 
is  to  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  send  troops,  &c." 
The  paragraphs  do  not  give  any  express  authority  to  the 
commissioners  to  arrest  and  commit,  "  his  majesty  de- 
pending, (as  the  letter  says)  upon  the  care  and  vigilance 
of  the  chief  magistrates,  to  take  the  proper  measures 
for  arresting  and  committing,  &c.v  Lord  Dartmouth's 
letter  does  not  mention,  whether  the  supposed  offence  is 
committed  within  the  body  of  the  county,  or  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  admiralty  courts  ;  and  therefore  the 
intention  of  administration  is  concealed,  whether  the 
prisoners  are  to  be  tried  under  the  twenty-eighth  of 
Henry  VIII.  "  for  an  offence  committed  on  the  seas/5 
or  under  the  thirty-fifth  of  Henry  VIII.  "  for  an  offence 
beyond  the  seas."  I  am  informed  that  the  Gaspie  was 
burnt  within  the  body  of  the  county  ;  of  this  being  the 
fact,  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  the  ministry  were  ig- 
norant ;  and  as  little  to  believe  that  their  resolution  was 
fixed,  to  have  the  accused  tried  in  England,  wherever 
the  vessel  was  destroyed 

I  am,  Sir,  with  the  sincerest  esteem, 

your  most  humble  servant, 

JOHN  DICKINSON, 

To  RICHARD  HXITBY  LEE,  Esq." 

The  discontents  every  where  manifested  in  the  co- 
lonies, at  the  duty  acts,  had  induced  Lord  North,  to 
advise  their  repeal.  They  were  repealed  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  duty  on  tea.  This  measure  failed  to 


»F  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  93 

produce  the  effects  expected  by  the  minister.  The  prin- 
ciple of  arbitrary  taxation,  to  recognize  which,  this  duty 
was  retained,  was  utterly  repugnant  to  the  ideas  of 
freedom  at  this  time  prevailing.  The  reader  is  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  fact,  that  to  show  their  determina- 
tion to  resist  this  principle,  the  people  of  Boston  threw 
an  immense  quantity  of  this  article  into  the  sea.  This 
step  gathered  to  thicker  concentration,  the  elements  of 
the  storm  of  civil  commotion,  which  had  been  so  long 
lowering.  The  ministry,  supported  by  the  prevalent  tem- 
per of  the  people  of  England,  poured  out  their  wrath 
upon  the  town  of  Boston,  and  an  act  was  passed,  shut- 
ting up  its  port.  The  following  very  interesting  letter 
from  Arthur  Lee,  Esq.  to  his  brother,  contained  the 
earliest  authentic  intelligence  of  the  passage  of  this  act, 
This  letter  contains  a  well  drawn  character  of  Lord 
North,  and  of  his  administration,  and  sound  and  timely 
advice,  respecting  the  course  to  be  pursued  by  Mr, 
Arthur  Lee's  countrymen. 

«  LONDON,  MABCH  18th,  1J74. 

DEAR  BROTHER — The  affairs  of  America  are  now 
become  very  serious;  the  minority  are  determined  to  put 
your  spirit  to  the  proof.  Boston  is  their  first  object. 

On  Monday,  the  14th,  it  was  ordered  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  that  leave  be  given  to  bring  in  a  bill,  "  for 
the  immediate  removal  of  the  officers  concerned  in  the 
collection  and  management  of  his  majesty's  duties  of  cus- 
toms from  the  town  of  Boston,  in  the  province  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  in  North  America;  and  to  discontinue  the 
landing  and  discharging,  lading  and  shipping,  of  goods, 
wares,  and  merchandise,  at  the  said  town  of  Boston,  or 
within  the  harbour  thereof/'* 

If  the  colonies,  in  general,  permit  this  to  pass  unno- 
ticed, a  precedent  will  be  established  for  humbling  them 

*  Many  native  Americans,  who  were  at  this  time  in  London, 
presented  a  petition  to  Parliament  in  behalf  of  their  countrymen 
in  Boston,  against  the  operation  of  this  act.  It  was  written  by 
Arthur  Lee.  See  App.  No.  2, 


94  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

by  degrees,  until  all  opposition  to  arbitrary  power  is  sub- 
dued. The  manner,  however,  in  which  you  should  meet 
this  violent  act,  should  be  well  weighed.  The  proceed- 
ings of  the  colonies,  in  consequence  of  it,  will  be  read 
and  regarded  as  manifestoes.  Great  care,  therefore, 
should  be  taken,  to  word  them  unexceptionably  and  plau- 
sibly. They  should  be  prefaced  with  the  strongest  pro- 
fessions of  respect  and  attachment  to  this  country;  of 
reluctance  to  enter  into  any  dispute  with  her;  of  the 
readiness  you  have  always  shown,  and  still  wish  to  show, 
of  contributing,  according  to  your  ability,  and  in  a  con- 
stitutional way,  to  her  support;  and  of  your  determina- 
tion to  undergo  every  extremity,  rather  than  submit  to  be 
enslaved.  These  things  tell  much  in  your  favour  with 
moderate  men,  and  with  Europe,  to  whose  interposition 
America  may  yet  owe  her  salvation,  should  the  contest 
be  serious  and  lasting.  In  short,  as  we  are  the  weaker, 
it  becomes  us  to  be  suaviter  in  modo,  however  we  may 
be  determined  to  act  fortiter  in  re.  There  is  a  persua- 
sion here,  that  America  will  see,  without  interposition, 
the  ruin  of  Boston.  It  is  of  the  last  importance  to  the 
general  cause,  that  your  conduct  should  prove  this  opinion 
erroneous.  If  once  it  is  perceived  that  you  may  be  at- 
tacked and  destroyed,  by  piecemeal,  actum  est,  every  part 
will,  in  its  turn,  feel  the  vengeance  which  it  would  not 
unite  to  repel,  and  a  general  slavery  or  ruin  must  ensue. 
The  colonies  should  never  forget  Lord  North's  declara- 
tion in  the  House  of  Commons,  that  he  would  not  listen 
to  the  complaints  of  America,  until  she  was  at  his  feet 
The  character  of  Lord  North,  and  the  consideration  of 
what  surprising  things  he  has  effected  towards  enslaving 
his  own  country,  makes  me,  I  own,  tremble  for  ours. 
Plausible,  deep,  and  treacherous,  like  his  master,  he  has 
no  passions  to  divert  him,  no  pursuits  of  pleasures  to 
withdraw  him  from  the  accursed  design  of  deliberately 
destroying  the  liberties  of  his  country.  A  perfect  adept 
in  the  arts  of  corruption,  and  indefatigable  in  the  appli- 
cation of  them,  he  effects  great  ends  by  means  almost 
magical,  because  they  are  unseen.  In  four  years^  h0 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  95 

has  overcome  the  most  formidable  opposition  in  this 
country,  from  which  the  Duke  of  Grafton  fled  with 
horror.     At  the  same  time,  he  has  effectually  enslaved 
the  East  India  Company,  and  made  the  vast  revenue  and 
territory  of  India,  in  effect,  a  royal  patronage.     Flushed 
with  these  successes,  he  now  attacks  America;  and  cer- 
tainly, if  we  are  not  firm  and  united,  he  will  triumph,  in 
the  same  manner,  over  us.     In  my  opinion,  a  general 
resolution  of  the  colonies  to  break  off  all  commercial  in- 
tercourse with  this  country,  until  they  are  secured  in 
their  liberties,  is  the  only  advisable  and  sure  mode  of 
defence.     To  execute  such  a  resolution,  would  be  irk- 
some at  first,  but  you  would  be  amply  repaid,  not  only 
in  saving  your  money,  and  becoming  independent  of  these 
petty  tyrants,  the  merchants,  but  in  securing  your  general 
liberties.     You  are,  however,  more  capable  of  judging 
what  is  proper  and  practicable.     My  great  wish  is  to  see 
you  firm  and  united. 

Adieu.     Your's  affectionately, 

ARTHUR  LEE." 

When  the  intelligence*  of  the  passage  of  the  act  above 
mentioned  reached  Virginia,  the  House  of  Burgesses 
was  in  session.  It  immediately  passed  several  resolu- 
tions, in  very  bold  terms,  against  it.  They  made  an  order, 
that  the  members  should  attend  in  their  seats,  on  the 
first  day  of  June,  the  day  on  which  the  act  was  to  take 
effect;  and  that  that  day  should  be  observed  as  a  day  of 
fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer. 

The  governor,  so  soon  as  he  heard  that  such  an  order 
had  been  made,  dissolved  the  House.  Upon  the  arrival 
of  the  intelligence  of  the  Boston  port  bill,  Mr.  Lee  pre- 
pared several  resolutions  of  stronger  language,  than  had 
yet  been  used  by  any  legislative  body  in  America.  And 
intended  to  have  offered  them,  on  the  morning  after 
the  vote  of  the  order  for  a  fast,  but  the  dissolution  of 
the  House  frustrated  the  design.  It  will  be  believed, 
from  the  spirit  of  the  time,  that  his  resolutions  would 
have  been  adopted.  When  the  House  was  dissolved, 


0/6  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

Mr.  Lee  advised  that  the  members  should  assemble,  and 
as  representatives  of  the  people,  at  once  recommend  the 
meeting  of  a  general  Congress.  The  members  gene- 
rally, were  disposed  to  pursue  a  more  cautious,  or  (which 
is  frequently  mistaken  for  such,)  a  more  dilatory  pro- 
ceeding. An  address  to  the  people  was  drawn  up,  in 
which  they  denounced  the  measures  of  Parliament,  as 
intended,  and  well  calculated  to  subvert  their  constitu- 
tional liberties.  They  particularly  reprobated  the  act 
for  shutting  up  the  port  of  Boston,  "  in  their  sister  co- 
lony" of  Massachusetts,  "  as  a  dangerous  attempt  to  de- 
stroy the  constitutional  liberty  and  rights  of  all  British 
America/'  They  recommend  to  their  committee  of 
correspondence,  "that  they  communicate  with  the  com- 
mittees of  other  colonies,  upon  the  expediency  of  ap- 
pointing deputies  from  the  several  colonies  of  British 
America,  to  meet  at  such  place,  as  should  be  most  con- 
venient, there  to  deliberate  on  those  general  measures, 
which  the  united  interests  of  America,  may,  from  time 
to  time  require."  The  address  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr. 
Lee,  and  contains  the  sentiments  of  the  resolutions  which 
he  intended  to  have  offered  in  the  House  of  Burgesses; 
besides  recommending  among  other  subjects  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  proposed  general  meeting  of  deputies,  a 
consideration  of  the  best  means  to  stop  the  exports  from 
the  colonies,  to  the  mother  country.  This  passage  of 
the  address,  is  in  these  words,  u  that  deputies  be  ap- 
pointed from  the  several  colonies,  to  consider  and  deter- 
mine upon  ways  the  most  effectual,  to  stop  the  exports 
from  North  America;  and  to  adopt  such  other  methods, 
as  shall  be  most  decisive  for  securing  the  constitutional 
rights  of  America,  against  the  systematic  plan  formed 
for  their  destruction/'  The  idea  of  stopping  the  ex- 
ports from  the  colonies,  as  far  as  the  author  can  ascer- 
tain, derives  from  Mr.  Lee. 

The  following  letter  to  Samuel  Adams,  Esq.,  written 
shortly  after  the  act  for  shutting  up  the  port  of  Boston 
had  gone  into  operation,  relates  the  proceedings  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  after  the  dissolution,  and  contains 


RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  97 

a  copy  of  the  resolutions  which  Mr.  Lee  intended  to 
have  offered  to  the  House.  The  correspondence  of 
these  two  great  men,  and  eminent  patriots,  will  be  read 
with  increasing  interest,  as  the  reader  approaches  the 
period  of  battle  and  bloodshed, 

[Letter  of  R.  H.  Lee,  to  Samuel  Mams.] 

"CHANTILLY,  VA. 

23,  1774, 


SIR  —  I  did  myself  the  pleasure  of  writing  to  you,  from 
this  place,  before  my  departure  for  our  Assembly,  in  May 
last,  and  again,  from  Williamsburg.  immediately  after 
our  dissolution,  enclosing  the  order  for  a  fast,  which 
produced  that  event;  and  an  account  of  the  subsequent 
conduct  of  the  members,  after  the  political  death  inflict- 
ed on  them.  The  day  before  we  were  dissolved,  I  had 
prepared  a  set  gf  resolutions,  the  two  last  of  which, 
were  thus  expressed: 

'•  Resolved,  That  the  blocking  up,  or  attempting  to 
block  up  the  harbour  of  Boston,  until  the  people  there 
shall  submit  to  the  payment  of  the  taxes  imposed  upon 
them,  without  the  consent  of  their  representatives,  is  a 
most  violent  and  dangerous  attempt  to  destroy  the  con- 
stitutional liberty  and  rights  of  all  British  America. 

"  Resolved,  That  ................  be  appointed 

deputies  from  this  House,  to  meet  at  .......  such 

deputies  from  the  other  colonies  as  they  shall  appoint, 
there  to  consider  and  determine  on  ways  the  most  effec- 
tual to  stop  the  exports  from  North  America,  and  for 
the  adoption  of  such  other  measures,  as  may  be  most 
decisive,  for  securing  the  rights  of  America  against  the 
systematic  plan  formed  for  their  destruction." 

I  have  not  a  remaining  doubt  that  these  resolu- 
tions would  have  been  agreed  to,  had  they  been  pro- 
posed. I  was  prevented  from  offering  them,  by  many 
worthy  members,  who  wished  to  have  the  public  busi- 
ness first  finished,  and  who  were  induced  to  believe,  from 
many  conversations  they  had  heard,  that  there  was  no 

VOL.  i.  —  N 


98  LI*'E  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

danger  of  a  dissolution,  before  it  had  happened.  It  seems 
government  were  alarmed  at  the  spirit  which  the  order 
for  a  fast  denoted,  and  fearing  the  consequences,  inter- 
posed a  dissolution.  The  consequent  conduct  of  the 
members,  was  surely  much  too  feeble,  in  opposition  to 
that  very  dangerous  and  alarming  degree,  to  which  des- 
potism had  advanced.  So  thinking,  I  did  propose  to 
the  dissolved  members,  the  plan  of  a  general  Congress; 
but  they  made  a  distinction,  between  their  then  state, 
and  that,  when  they  were  members  of  the  House  of 
Burgesses.  Most  of  the  members,  and  myself  among 
the  rest,  had  left  Williamsburg,  before  your  message 
from  Boston  had  arrived.  Twenty-five  of  them,  how- 
ever, were  assembled  to  consider  of  that  message,  and 
they  determined  to  invite  a  general  meeting  of  the  whole 
body,  on  the  first  of  August,  to  consider  the  measure  of 
stopping  the  exports  and  imports.  Since  that,  an  Indian 
invasion  of  our  frontier,  has  compelled  the  calling  a  new 
Assembly,  for  which  purpose,  writs,  returnable  to  the 
eleventh  August,  are  now  out,  at  which  time,  it  is  thought 
the  House  will  meet;  when,  I  think,  there  is  no  manner 
of  doubt,  they  will  directly  adopt  the  most  effectual 
means  in  their  power,  for  obtaining  a  redress  of  griev- 
ances. In  the  mean  time,  the  sense  of  some  counties  is 
taking,  and  two  have  already  declared  their  desire  to  stop 
the  commercial  intercourse  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  West  Indies,  and  this  colony.  It  seems  very  clear  to 
me,  that  there  will  be  a  general  agreement.  Do  you  not 
think,  that  the  first  most  essential  step  for  our  Assembly 
to  take,  will  be  an  invitation  to  a  general  Congress,  as 
speedily  as  the  nature  of  things  will  admit,  in  order  that 
our  plan,  whatever  it  may  be,  may  be  unanimous,  and 
therefore  effectual.  I  shall  be  in  Williamsburg  the  first 
of  August,  and  shall  continue  there  until  the  meeting 
of  Assembly  on  the  eleventh.  It  will  be  exceedingly 
agreeable  to  me,  to  know  your  sentiments  fully,  on  this 
most  important  subject.  I  am  sure  it  will  be  of  real 
consequence  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  that  your  committee 
of  correspondence  write  fully  your  sentiments  to  ours, 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  99 

at  the  same  time.  It  will  be  well,  so  to  time  the  matter, 
as  that  your  letters  may  be  in  Williamsburg  before  the 
first  of  August,  at  which  time,  a  meeting  of  the  late 
representatives  will  take  place,  notwithstanding  the 
return  of  the  writs  to  the  eleventh  instant.* 

I  hope  the  good  people  of  Boston  will  not  loose  their 
spirits  under  their  present  heavy  oppression,  for  they 
will  certainly  be  supported  by  the  other  colonies;  and 
the  cause  for  which  they  suffer,  is  so  glorious,  and  so 
deeply  interesting  to  the  present,  and  future  generations, 
that  all  America  will  owe,  in  a  great  measure,  their 
political  salvation  to  the  present  virtue  of  Massachusetts 
Bay.  I  am,  sir,  with  very  singular  regard, 
Your  most  obedient, 

and  humble  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

To  SAMUEL  ADAXS,  Esq.,  BOSTOS." 

[Samuel  Mam's  Reply.] 

"  SIR — I  have  lately  been  favoured  with  three  letters 
from  you,  and  must  beg  you  to  attribute  my  omitting  to 
make  due  acknowledgments  till  this  time,  to  a  multi- 
plicity of  affairs  to  which  I  am  obliged  to  give  my  con- 
stant attention.  The  unrighteous  and  oppressive  act  of 
the  British  Parliament  for  shutting  up  this  harbour, 
though  executed  with  a  rigour  beyond  the  intent/  even 
of  its  framers,  has  hitherto  failed,  and  will,  I  believe,  con- 
tinue to  fail  of  the  effect,  which  the  enemies  of  America 
flattered  themselves  it  would  have.  The  inhabitants 
still  wear  cheerful  countenances;  far  from  being  in  the 
least  intimidated,  they  are  resolved  to  undergo  the 
greatest  hardships  rather  than  submit  in  any  instance  to 
the  tyrannical  act.  They  are  daily  encouraged  to  per- 
severe, by  the  intelligence  they  receive  from  their 
brethren,  not  of  this  province  only,  but  every  other 

*  They  did  meet  on  the  first  of  August,  to  show  that  they  met 
according  to  their  own  appointment,  and  not  in  obedience  to  tht 
king's  writs. 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

colony,  that  they  are  considered  as  suffering  in  the  com-* 
mon  cause,  and  the  resolution  of  all  to  support   them 
in  the  conflict.     Lord  North  had  no  expectation  that 
we  should  be  thus  sustained  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  trust- 
ed that' Boston  would  be  left  to  fall  alone.    He  has  there- 
fore made  no  preparation  for  the  effects  of  an  union. 
From  the  information  I  have  had  from  intelligent  per- 
sons in  England,  I  verily  believe    the  design  was  to 
seize  some  persons  and  send  them  home  ;  but  the  steadi- 
ness and  prudence  of  the  people,  and  the  unexpected 
union  of  the  colonies,  evidenced  by  liberal  contributions 
for  our  support,  has  disconcerted  them  and  they  are  at 
a  loss  to  know  how  to  proceed  further.     Four  regiments 
are  encamped  on  our  common  and  more  are  expected; 
but  I  hope  the  people  will  by  circumspect  behaviour, 
prevent  their  taking  occasion  to  act.     The  port  bill  is 
followed  by  two  other  acts,  one  for  regulating  the  go- 
vernment of  this  province,  or  rather  totally  to  destroy 
our  free  constitution,  and  substituting  an  absolute  des- 
potic one  in  its  stead  ;  the  other  for  the  more  impartial 
administration  of  justice,  or  as  some  term  it  for  screen- 
ing from  punishment  any  soldier  who  shall  murder  an 
American,  for   asserting  his  rights.     A  submission  to 
these  acts  will  doubtles  be  required  and  expected  ;  but 
whether  General  Gage  wiH  find  it  an  easy  thing  to  force 
the  people  to  submit  to  so  great  and  fundamental  a 
change  of  government,  is  a  question  I  think  worth  his 
consideration.     Will  the  people  of  America  consider 
these  measures  as  an  attack  on  the  constitution  of  an 
individual  province,  in  which  the  rest  are  not  interested, 
or  will  they  view  the  model  of  government  prepared  for 
us  as  a  system  for  tbe  whole  continent  ?     Will  they  as 
unconcerned  spectators,  look  on  it  to  be  designed  only 
to  lop  off  the  exuberant  branches  of  democracy  in  the 
constitution  of  this    province,  or  as  part  of  a  plan  to 
reduce  them  all  to  slavery.    These  are  questions,  in  my 
opinion,    of  great  importance,   which  I  trust   will  be 
thoroughly  weighed  in  a  general  congress.     May  God 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 


101 


inspire  that  intended  body  with  wisdom  and  fortitude, 
and  unite  and  prosper  their  councils. 

The  people  of  this  province  are  thoroughly  sensible 
of  the  necessity  of  breaking  off  all  commercial  con- 
nection with  a  country,  whose  political  councils  tend 
only  to  enslave  them.  They,  however,  consider  the 
body  of  the  nation  as  kept  in  profound  ignorance  of 
the  nature  of  the  dispute  between  Britain  and  the  co- 
lonies, and  are  taught  to  believe  that  we  are  a  perfidious 
and  rebellious  people.  It  is  with  reluctance  they  come 
into  any  resolutions,  which  must  distress  those  who  are 
not  the  objects  of  t  leir  resentments,  but  they  are  urged 
to  it  by  motives  of  self-preservation  ;  and  are  therefore 
signing  an  agreement  in  the  several  towns,  n6t  to  con- 
sume any  British  manufactures,  which  shall  be  imported 
after  the  last  of  August  next,  and  that  they  may  not  be 
imposed  upon,  they  are  to  require  an  oath  of  those  of 
whom  they  purchase  goods.  It  is  the  virtue  of  the 
yeomanry  we  are  chiefly  to  depend  upon.  Our  friends 
in  Maryland  talk  of  withholding  the  exportation  of 
tobacco  ;  this  was  hinted  to  us  by  the  gentlemen  of  the 
late  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia,  who  had  been 
called  together,  after  the  dissolution  of  the  Assembly. 
This  would  be  a  measure  greatly  interesting  to  the  mo- 
ther country. 

Should  America  hold  up  her  own  importance  to  the 
body  of  the  nation,  and  at  the  same  time  agree  to  one 
general  bill  of  rights,  the  dispute  might  be  settled  on 
principles  of  freedom,  and  harmony  be  restored  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  colonies. 
I  am,  with  great  regard, 

your  friend  and  servant, 

SAMUEL  ADAMS. 

To  RICHABD  HENRY  LEE,  Virginia." 

Soon  after  Mr.  Lee's  return  from  Williamsburg,  he 
procured  a  very  full  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  West- 
moreland. And  after  haranguing  them  on  the  state  of 
affairs,  and  inveighing  in  bold  and  indignant  terms 


IQ2  L!FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

against  the  English  ministry,  dwelling  in  pathetic  descrip- 
tion on  the  sufferings  of  their  countrymen  in  Boston,  he 
proposed  several  resolutions.  These  expressed  a  warm 
sympathy  for  the  people  of  that  town,  cheered  them  by 
assurances  of  support,  and  exhorted  them  to  persevere 
in  their  manly  resistance.  The  author  has  in  his  pos- 
session, a  manuscript  outline  of  Mr.  Lee's  harangue  on 
this  occasion,  and  a  copy  of  the  resolutions.  A  corres- 
ponding committee  for  his  native  county  was  now  form- 
ed, and  of  it,  he  was  a  diligent  memljer. 


... 


OF  ETCIIAKP  HENRY  LEE.  1Q3 


CHAPTER  V. 


MR.  LEE  used  the  utmost  diligence  as  a  member 
ef  the  state  committee  of  correspondence,  to  collect  the 
sense  of  the  different  colonies,  on  the  subject  of  a  gene- 
ral Congress.  He  had  proposed  to  the  members  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  after  their  dissolution,  at  once  to 
recommend  such  a  measure;  but  the  majority  preferred 
a  course  of  more  delay.  He  was  apprehensive,  unless 
he  could  assure  the  Assembly,  (which  was  to  meet  the 
first  of  August,)  that  the  other  colonies  approved  the 
immediate  adoption  of  the  plan,  that  a  recommendation 
of  the  measure  by  Virginia,  would  be  again  postponed. 
He  was  evidently  prepared  for  the  exigency  of  affairs; 
seeing  clearly  that  a  struggle  would,  very  soon  become, 
not  only  a  duty,  but  a  matter  of  necessity,  he  wished  to 
prepare  for  it,  the  strength  and  the  wisdom  of  all  the  colo- 
nies; and  seems  early  to  have  entertained  the  idea,  that 
no  measure  could  be  devised,  so  well  calculated  to  en- 
sure an  effectual  union,  as  a  federal  Congress.  Such  a 
body  alone,  he  believed,  could  awaken  the  moral  ener- 
gies of  the  people,  and  apply  and  direct  their  physical 
powers.  Hence  he  urged  its  adoption,  with  all  the  zeal 
of  devotion  to  his  country,  and  with  all  the  force  of  his 
powerful  and  persuasive  eloquence. 

The  first  General  Assembly  of  Virginia  met  at  Wil- 
liamsburg,  on  the  first  of  August,  1774.  In  it  were 
present  all  the  conspicuous  men  of  the  state,  among 
whom  Mr.  Lee  ardently  exerted  himself  to  induce  the 
adoption  of  every  measure  calculated  to  render  his 
country  able  to  meet  even  the  worst  event;  distinguish- 
ing himself  as  a  powerful,  an  eloquent,  and  an  intrepid 
assertor  of  the  rights  of  his  countrymen.  He  strenu- 


104  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

ously  urged  the  propriety  of  making  common  cause  with 
the  people  of  Boston:  of  breaking  off  all  commercial 
intercourse  with  the  mother  country,  and  of  recommend- 
ing an  immediate  meeting  of  a  general  congress.  This 
last  measure  was  carried  in  the  Assembly,  and  the  fol- 
lowing deputies  were  chosen  :  Messrs.  Peyton  Ran- 
dolph, Richard  Henry  Lee,  George  Washington,  Patrick 
Henry,  Richard  Bland,  Benjamin  Harrison,  and  Edmund 
Pendleton.  The  letter  of  instructions  furnished  to  the 
deputies,  displays,  in  a  strong  and  cheering  light,  the 
talents  and  firmness  of  the  patriots  of  Virginia. 

The  purpose  of  this  appointment,  and  the  tenor  of  the 
letter  of  instructions  accompanying  it,  were  entirely  con- 
genial to  the  spirit  and  views  of  Mr.  Lee.  Whatever 
hopes  he  may  have  entertained  of  a  restoration  of  har- 
mony between  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies,  from 
the  measures  which  might  be  adopted  in  a  general  con- 
gress, he  considered  such  an  assembly  as  the  surest  mean 
of  organizing  efficient  plans  of  resistance.  It  opened 
to  him  a  new  and  enlarged  sphere  of  exertion.  His 
generous  and  comprehensive  patriotism  had  long  since 
embraced  the  mutual  interests,  deplored  the  general  op- 
pression, and  gloried  in  the  assertion  of  the  common 
cause  of  America.  The  prospects  of  the  labours  and 
trials  of  a  public  life  earnestly  devoted  to  the  business 
of  an  extensive  country,  in  a  gloomy  period,  did  not  re- 
press the  ardor,  or  check  the  activity,  of  his  mind.  No 
one  ever  obeyed  with  more  alacrity  the  call  of  his  coun- 
try. No  patriot  ever  acted  more  entirely  on  the  prin- 
ciple, that  every  man  owed  his  most  cheerful  and  unwea- 
ried efforts  to  his  country,  especially  in  times  of  trouble 
and  danger.  None  of  the  great  men  of  that  day  carried 
into  the  public  service  a  firmer  fortitude,  a  more  exalted 
patriotism,  and  a  more  enduring  patience. 

It  will,  perhaps,  be  not  unacceptable  to  the  reader,  to 
be  presented  with  a  letter  written  about  this  time,  by 
Colonel  Washington  to  Mr.  Lee.  This  letter  is  inte- 
resting, as  it  was  written  by  him  who  was  to  become  the 
great  military  leader  of  the  revolution.  This  shows  the 


OF  HICRARD  HKNfeY  LEE.  ]Q5 

Sound  sense  which  he  exhibited,  as  well  in  council  as  in 
the  field.  It  is  the  first  letter  of  a  correspondence,  of 
the  most  affectionate  and  confidential  character,  between 
General  Washington  and  Mr.  Lee,  beginning  in  the  .year 
'74,  and  continuing  until  the  death  of  the  latter.  This 
correspondence  was  on  subjects  of  the  deepest  interest 
and  importance  to  the  country.  The  letters  of  General 
Washington  were  as  frequent  as  his  all-important  labours 
would  allow;  written  from  the  camp  and  the  field  of 
battle;  on  the  day  of  disaster  and  of  victory;  from  his 
fireside,  and  from  the  banks  of  the  rivers,  whose  courses 
he  traces,  and  whose  possible  communications  he  con- 
siders.* 

«  VVILUAMSBURG,  AUGTTST  9,  1774. 

DEAR  SIR — If  this  letter  should,  (though  I  do  not  see 
any  probable  chance  that  it  will,)  reach  your  hands  in 
time,  it  is  to  ask,  if  you  do  not  think  it  necessary,  that 
the  deputies  from  this  colony,  should  be  furnished  with 
authentic  lists  of  the  exports  and  imports  annually,  more 
especially  to  and  from  Great  Britain;  and,  in  that  case, 
to  beg  of  you  to  obtain  such  from  the  custom-house  offi- 
cers on  the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock.  I  have  de- 

*  In  a  late  work,  "  Sketches  of  the  Life  of  N.  Green,  by  Wil- 
liam JohnsoB,  of  South  Carolina,"  the  anther  has,  without  due 
inquiry,  stated  more  than  once,  that  Richard  H.  Lee,  and  other 
eminent  men  Gf  the  revolution,  were  inimical  to  General  Wash- 
ington, particularly  about  the  period  of  the  trial  of  General  Charles 
Lee.  The  same  remark  is  made,  in  regard  to  the  brothers  of 
Mr.  Lee,  Francis  L.  Lee,  and  Arthur  Lee,  Esqrs.  In  addition 
to  the  full  evidence  of  the  entire  want  of  foundation  of  these  hasty 
assertions,  which  the  reader  will  find  in  this  Memoir,  and  the 
correspondence  of  General  Washington,  it  may  here  be  remarked) 
that  General  Green,  whose  unshaken  attachment  to  Washington 
is  justly  made  one  of  his  merits  by  the  author,  was  a  warm  friend 
and  constant  correspondent  of  Richard  H.  Lee,  during  the  very 
time  when  the  latter  is  said  to  have  been  inimical  to  General 
Washington.  It  was  the  effort  of 'lories  to  create  a  distrust  be- 
tween General  Washington  and  R.  H.  KeCi  It  had  not  the  in- 
tended effect.  The  illustrious  statesman  who  moved  the  decla- 
ration of  independence,  and  the  immortal  chief  who  established 
its  principles  by  his  victories,  admired  arjd  loved  each  other, 

VOL.  I.- 


lOFfi  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

sired  the  speaker,  if  he  should  think  it  expedient,  and 
might  not  have  thought  of  it,  to  do  the  same  from  the 
York,  and  Jarnes  Rivers  offices. 

I  have  got  an  account  (though  not  a  certified  one,) 
from  Mr.  Wythe,  of  our  number  of  taxables  in  1770, 
since  increased  (Archy  Carey  says)  to  10,000,  as  would 
have  appeared  by  the  list  which  would  have  been  return- 
ed in  May,  if  the  session  had  gone  on. 

I  am,  with  esteem,  dear  sir,   • 

your  most  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON,* 

P.  S.  If  you  should  travel  to  Philadelphia  by  land,  I 
should  be  glad  of  your  company.  Mr.  Henry,  is  to  be 
at  my  house  on  his  way,  Tuesday  the  thirtieth  instant'7 

Mr.  Lee  was  unavoidably  detained  in  Virginia,  and 
did  not  reach  Philadelphia  as  soon  as  his  colleagues. 
He  made  every  effort,  however,  to  appear  promptly  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Congress,  and  was  able  to  take  his 
seat,  before  the  House  had  commenced  its  deliberations. 

Here  he  became  personally  acquainted  with  the  dis- 
tinguished men  of  the  several  colonies,  with  whom  he 
had  for  some  time  corresponded.  To  most  of  the  mem- 
bers, his  character  was  already  known,  for  his  fame  had 
extended  beyond  the  limits  of  his  native  state.  It  may 
easily  be  imagined,  how  cordial  was  the  meeting  between 
those  patriots,  who  had  interchanged  the  most  friendly 
sentiments;  who  had  felt  the  sympathies  of  congenial 
minds;  who  had  long  entertained  the  same  political 
views;  who  had  devoted  their  services  to  the  welfare  of 
their  common  country;  and  were  willing  to  sacrifice 
their  lives  and  fortunes,  for  its  freedom  and  happiness. 

A  more  able  and  a  more  virtuous  body,  than  the  first 
continental  Congress,  never  assembled.  A  more  mo- 

*  See  the  very  interesting  correspondence  with  Washington, 
in  vol.  ii. 


OP  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

mentous  business,  never  demanded  the  attention  of  men, 
than  that,  which  was  about  to  employ  their  minds.  The 
liberty  of  themselves  and  their  posterity,  depended  upon 
the  wisdom  and  vigour  of  their  councils.  "  To  this  ve- 
nerable body,"  it  has  been  well  said,  u  every  American 
heart  will  bow  with  homage,  while  the  name  of  liberty 
shall  be  dear  in  our  land."* 

After  several  days  had  been  spent,  in  the  examination 
of  the  credentials  of  the  members,  and  in  other  prelimi- 
nary arrangements,  the  House  was  at  length  completely 
and  solemnly  organized.  The  day  on  which  the  House 
was  to  commence  its  deliberations  arrived.  It  met,  and 
"  a  long  and  deep  silence  is  said  to  have  followed  its  or- 
ganization."! Patrick  Henry  was  the  first  speaker  on 
this  occasion.  "  He  was  followed"  says  his  biographer, 
"  by  Mr.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  who  charmed  the  House 
with  a  different  kind  of  eloquence.  Chaste,  classical, 
beautiful,  his  polished  periods  rolled  along  without  effort, 
filling  the  ear  with  the  most  bewitching  harmony,  and 
delighting  the  mind  with  the  most  exquisite  imagery." 

Great  expectations  had  been  formed  of  Mr.  Lee,  by 
the  House  generally,  and  particularly  by  those  of  the 
members  with  whom  he  had  previously  corresponded. 
Seldom  have  expectations  been  so  completely  answered. 
It  was  not  the  lustre  of  abilities,  nor  the  splendour  and 
richness  of  his  eloquence,  nor  the  fire  and  the  grace  of 
bis  oratory,  which  so  forcibly  struck  the  House.  It  was 
the  comprehensive  view  of  the  subject  he  took;  the  va- 
riety of  political  knowledge  he  exhibited;  the  maturity 
of  wisdom;  the  dignity  of  sentiment;  the  boldness  and 
elevation  of  spirit  he  displayed,  which  so  raised  the 
hopes,  so  cheered  and  animated  the  friends  of  Ame- 
rican freedom.  He  vividly  and  indignantly  described 
and  enumerated  the  wrongs  of -America;  and  learnedly 
and  accurately  stated  her  constitutional  rights.  He  dis- 
covered a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  resources  and  in- 
terests of  the  mother  country;  of  the  views  and  policy -of 

*  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  p.  195.  *  Ibid.  p.  106, 


108  JW*'£  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

•  her  ministers;  of  the  resources  of  the  colonies;  and  of 
(he  interests  and  motives  likely  to  govern  and  actuate 
the  powerful  rivals  of  Great  Britain. 

This  first  occasion  on  which  Mr.  Lee  spoke  in  Con* 
t  grcss,  afforded  a  happy  subject  for  the  display  of  his 
'  eloquence,  and  political  knowledge,  his  zeai  for  liberty, 
;and  his  devotion  to  his  country.     He  was  deeply  inte- 
rested in  the  solemn  questions  about  to  be  agitated,  and 
he  was  endeavouring,  effectually,  to  aid  in  securing  the 
freedom  of  his  country. 

The  Congress  met  on  the  4th  of  September,  1774. 
On  the  sixth  instant,  it  was  resolved,  "  that  a  committee 
be  appointed,  to  state  the  rights  of  the  colonies  in  gene- 
ral, the  several  instances  in  which  those  rights  are  vio- 
lated or  infringed,  and  the  means  most  proper  to  be 
pursued,  to  obtain  a  restoration  of  them."*  It  was 
determined  that  this  committee  should  consist  of  two 
members  from  each  colony.  As  the  assembling  of  a 
Congress,  and  the  adoption  of  every  measure  was  to  be 
justified,  on  the  ground  of  the  violation  of  the  rights  of 
all  the  colonies,  it  was  highly  wise,  that  the  views  and 
grievances  of  all  should  be  fully  stated.  The  House 
would  thus  become  certainly  and  minutely  acquainted 
with  the  feelings  of  the  people,  harmony  and  concert 
would  prevail,  and  necessary  measures  would  be  unani- 
mously adopted. 

Mr.  Lee  and  Mr.  Pcndleton,  were  selected  from  the 
Virginia  deputation.! 

*  See  Journals,  vol.  i.  p.  10,  11. 

f  Ibid,  p.  1 1 — In  puges  107,  8,  of  the  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  the 
Author  has  led  his  readers  to  infer,  that  R.  H.  Lee,  and  P.  Henry, 
though  great  and  eloquent  declaimers,  were  not  only  unskilled  in 
composition,  but  unpractised  in  the  "  dry  details  of  business."  Of 
P.  Henry,  his  biographer  had  a  right  to  speak.  Of  the  success  of  Mr. 
Lee  in  compositon,  it  is  believed,  sufficient  evidence  has  already 
i.Lcn  given  in  this  Memoir.  The  reader  will  find  more  ample 
proof  of  the  abilities,  and  other  qualifications  of  Mr.  Lee  as  a 
writer.  Of  no  man  of  genius,  not  even  of  the  younger  Pitt,  cau 
jt  be  said  with  less  truth,  than  of  R.  H,  Lee,  that  he  was  not  great 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  September,  a  spirited  preamble 
and  resolutions  of  the  several  towns  and  districts  of 
Suffolk,  in  Massachusetts,  and  an  address  to  Governor 
Gage,  were  laid  before  Congress.*  The  sentiments 
expressed  in  them,  were  in  unison  with  those  of  the 
whole  Congress,  but  more  particularly  acceptable  to  Mr. 
Lee.  Accordingly,  he  moved,  and  it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  "  That  this  Assembly  deeply  feel  the  suffer- 
ings of  their  fellow  citizens  in  Massachusetts  Bay,  under 
the  operation  of  the  late  unjust,  cruel,  and  oppressive 
acts  of  the  British  Parliament;  that  they  most  thoroughly 
approve  of  the  wisdom  and  fortitude,  with  which  opposi- 
tion to  these  wicked  ministerial  measures  hath  hitherto 
been  conducted;  and  it  earnestly  recommends  to  their 
brethren,  a  perseverance  in  the  same  firm  and  temperate 
conduct,  as  expressed  in  the  resolutions  determined  upon, 
at  a  late  meeting  of  the  delegates  for  the  county  of 
Suffolk,  on  Tuesday,  the  sixth  instant,  trusting  that  the 
effects  of  the  united  efforts  of  North  America,  in  their 
behalf,  will  carry  such  conviction  to  the  British  nation, 
of  the  unwise,  unjust,  and  ruinous  policy  of  the  present 
administration,  as  quickly  to  introduce  better  men,  and 
wiser  measures. 

Resolved,  "  That  contributions  from  all  the  colonies, 
for  supplying  the  necessities,  and  alleviating  the  distresses 

in  the  "dry  details  of  business."  The  journals  of  the  old  Congress, 
the  universal  attestation  of  his  cotemporaries,  and  manuscripts 
now  in  the  possession  of  the  author,  abundantly  establish  the  fact, 
that  his  habits  of  patient  investigation,  unwearied  attention  to  the 
driest  details  of  business,  and  his  aptitude  to  the  performance  of 
them,  his  knowledge  of  men  and  things,  the  order  and  method 
of  his  transactions,  were  as  remarkable  as  the  brilliancy  and 
sprightliness  of  his  fancy,  and  the  extent  of  his  knowledge.  He 
was  either  chairman,  or  a  member  of  every  military  and  naval, 
as  well  as  of  every  miscellaneous  business  committee,  during  his 
long  deputation  to  the  continental  Congress.  Letters  to  Mr.  Lee, 
from  General  Washington,  and  almost  every  general  officer,  down 
to  deputy  quartermasters — from  Drs.  Rush,  Shippen,  &c.,  of  the 
medical  department,  consulting  him  on  the  most  minute  details  of 
their  duties,  will  be  found  among  the  correspondence,  vol.  ii. 
*  See  Journals,  vol  i.  p.  13. 


E  ANJ)  CORRESPONDENCE 

of  our  brethren  at  Boston,  ought  to  be  continued  in  such 
manner,  and  so  long  as  their  occasions  may  require/'* 
On  the  27th,  Congress  had  under  consideration, 
"the  means  most  proper  to  be  used,  for  the  restoration 
of  American  rights."!  The  reader  will  recollect,  how 
earnestly  Mr.  Lee  had  advised,  both  in  and  out  of  the 
legislature  of  Virginia,  the  plan  of  non-importation  of 
all  articles  of  British  manufactures.  He  had  also  pro- 
posed the  plan  of  stopping  all  exports  to  Great  Britain, 
from  the  colonies.  He  advised  these  plans,  as  of  the 
most  probable  efficacy,  not,  indeed,  in  changing  the  pur- 
poses of  the  ministry,  but  in  bringing  the  interests  of 
the  nation  into  opposition  to  their  policy  and  measures, 
He  now,  with  equal  earnestness  and  ability,  urged  Con- 
gress to  the  adoption  of  a  general  system  of  non-inter- 
course, and  resolutions  expressing  the  expediency  of 
such  a  system,  were  adopted.  A  committee  was  appointed 
to  report  a  plan,  for  carrying  into  effect  these  resolutions. 
Mr.  Lee  was  one  of  this  committee;  and  the  plan  re- 
ported, was  very  similar  to  that  which  he  had  advised  in 
his  own  state,  and  which  had  there  been  extensively 
adopted.  The  importance  of  the  trade  of  the  mother 
country  with  the  colonies,  was  obvious  to  any  one,  at  all 
acquainted  with  the  extent  of  it.  To  Mr.  Lee,  who 
was  accurately  informed  on  the  subject  of  the  commer- 
cial and  financial  relations  of  the  two  countries,  a  non- 
intercourse,  appeared  a  measure  which  could  not  fail  to 
have  a  powerful  operation,  and  a  decisive  effect.  He 
wisely  foresaw,  that  if  it  failed  to  array  the  interests  of 
the  nation,  against  its  willingness  to  be  flattered  by  minis- 
terial theories  of  Parliamentary  omnipotence,  war  must 
follow.  With  how  much  wisdom  he  had  long  urged  an 
entire  cessation  of  trade,  may  be  seen,  by  referring  to  Mr, 
Burke's  speech  on  "  American  Taxation,"  for  its  import- 
ance to  the  mother  country.  "  The  trade  with  America 

*  Taken  from  the  orig'mal  mamiscipts  of  Mr.  T.eo.      See 
Journ.  p.  19. 
t  Ibid,  p.  21. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

trione,  is  now  (March  22,  1775)  less  than  500,0002.,  of 
being  equal  to  what  this  great  commercial  country,  Eng- 
land, carried  on  at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  with 
all  the  world." 

On  the  1st  October,  the  Congress  having  resumed  the 
consideration  of  the  means  necessary  to  the  restoration 
of  American  Rights,  resolved  unanimously,  "  that  a 
loyal  address  to  his  majesty  be  prepared,  dutifully 
requesting  the  royal  attention  to  the  grievances  which 
alarm  and  distress  his  majesty's  faithful  subjects  in  North 
America ;  and  entreating  his  majesty's  gracious  inter- 
position to  remove  such  grievances;  thereby  to  restore 
to  Great  Britain  and  the  colonies,  that  harmony  so  ne- 
cessary to  the  happiness  of  the  British  empire,  and  so 
ardently  desired  by  all  America/'  It  was  ordered  that 
Mr.  Lee,  Mr.  J.  Adams,  Mr.  Johnson,*  Mr.  Henry, 
and  Mr.  Rutlege  be  a  committee  to  prepare  such  an 
address  to  his  majesty.f 

It  has  often  been  remarked  of  Mr.  Lee,  that  boldness 
and  energy  were  striking  trails  in  both  his  private  and 
public  character  ;  whilst  he,  no  doubt,  trembled  at  the 
prospect  of  the  distresses  which  war  would  bring  upon 
his  family  and  country,  he  was  not  ';  afraid  steadily  to 
Jook  in  the  face  of  that  glaring  and  dazzling  splendour/' 

*  The  author  cannot  pass  the  name  of  this  gentleman,  with- 
out a  tribute  to  his  memory,  which  every  virtuous  American 
must  delight  to  bestow.  .He  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  old 
Congress.  There  did  not  live  in,  those  times  which  •<  tried 
men's  souls,"  a  purer  patriot,  or  a  more  efficient  citizen.  He 
was  governor  of  Maryland  during  the  darkest  ^period  of  the  Re- 
volution. Under  his  administration,  Maryland  was  distinguish- 
ed for  her  devotion  to  the  common  cause.  On  one  occasion, 
when  General  Washington  was  retreating  through  the  Jersies, 
fee  raised  a  large  body  of  Maryland  militia,  and  marched  at  their 
head  to  his  camp,  by  whom  he  was  received  with  the  most 
marked  respect.  He  was,  under  the  federal  government,  a  judge 
of  the  United  States5  court.  He  was  frequently  in  flattering  terms 
invited  by  General  Washington  to  accept  of  the  appointment  of 
secretary  of  state.  No  Roman  citizen  ever  loved  his  country- 
more.  His  private  virtues  entitled  him  to  veneration  and  love. 
Thomas  Johnson  was,  indeed,  an  honour  to  the  cause  of  liberty  ! 
t  Journal,  p.  22. 


1 12  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

of  English  power,  "  at  which  the  eyes  of  eagles  had 
blenched."     On  the  third  of  October,  he  moved  the 
following  strong  and  spirited  resolution  :  Resolved  "  That 
as  we  find  the  reason  declared  in  the  preamble  to  the 
acts  of  Parliament,  for  raising  a  revenue  in  America, 
to  be  for  supporting  the  civil  government,  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  and  for  protecting,  defending  and  se- 
curing the  colonies,'5  the  Congress  recommend  it  to 
those  colonies,  in  which  it  has  not  been  already  done,  to 
provide  constitutional,  competent,  and  honourable  sup- 
port for  the  purposes  of  government,  and  administra- 
tion of  justice  ;  and  that  as  it  is  quite  unreasonable,  that 
the  mother  country  should  be  at  the  expense  of  main- 
taining standing  armies  in  North  America,  for  its  de- 
fence ;  and  that  administration  may  be  convinced,  that 
this  is  unnecessary  and  improper,  as  North  America  is 
able,  willing,  and  under  Providence,  determined  to  de- 
fend, protect,  and  secure  itself,  the  Congress  do  most 
earnestly  recommend  to  the  several  colonies,  that  a  mi- 
litia be  forthwith  appointed  and  well  disciplined,   and 
that  it  be  well  provided  with  ammunition  and  proper 
arms/"*     That  Mr.  Lee  was  not  outrunning  the  exer- 
cise of  a  sound  policy,  and  was  not  hastening  unneces- 
sarily a  state  of  war,  will  be  obvious  to  the  statesman; 
for  at  this  moment,  Boston  was  occupied  by  a  regular 
army,  and  military  works  were  carried  on  daily  around 
it ;  and  the  course  of  events  proved  that  the  ministry 
never  were  convinced,  from  their  conciliatory  measures, 
and  from  the  dutiful  addresses  of  Congress,  that  North 
America  would  dare  to  arm  and  defend  itself.     To  a 
majority  of  the  members,  the  resolution  appeared  too 
strong.     They  were  apprehensive,  lest  it  might  be  un- 
derstood as  speaking  the  language,  and  breathing  the 
spirit  of  menace  and  rebellion.     It  was  modified  to  suit 
the  cautious  temper  of  the  House,  and  adopted  in  the 
following  language  :  Resolved  unanimously,  That  it  be 
an  instruction  to  the  committee  appointed  to  draw  up 

*  From  the  original  manuscript  of  Mr.  Lee. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE; 

an  address  to  the  king.  Whereas  Parliamentary  taxes 
on  America  have  been  laid,  on  pretence  of  "  defraying 
the  expenses  of  government,  and  supporting  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice,  defending,  protecting,  and  se- 
curing the  colonies/'  that  they  do  assure  his  majesty 
the  colonies  have,  or  will  make  ample  provision  for 
defraying  all  the  necessary  expenses  of  supporting  go- 
vernment, and  the  due  administration  of  justice  in  the 
respective  colonies  ;  that  the  militia  if  put  on  a  proper 
footing  would  be  amply  sufficient  for  their  defence  in 
time  of  peace;  that  they  are  desirous  of  putting  it  on 
such  a  footing,  immediately,  and  that  in  case  of  war, 
the  colonies  are  ready  to  grant  supplies  for  raising  any 
further  forces  that  may  be  necessary.* 

How  tamed  and  subdued  is  the  language  of  the  reso- 
lution finally  adopted,  compared  with  that  first  moved. 
An  endorsement  on  the  original  manuscript  of  Mr. 
Lee,  shows  plainly,  that  he  was  a  good  deal  displeased, 
at  the  rejection  of  his  resolution  in  the  language  in 
which  it  was  offered.  It  is  in  these  words:  "A  motion 
made  in  Congress  by  R.  H.  Lee,  to  apprise  the  public  of 
danger,  and  of  the  necessity  of  putting  the  colonies,  in 
a  state  of  defence.  A  majority  had  not  the  spirit  to 
adopt  it."  The  same  caution  which  caused  the  rejec- 
tion of  Mr.  Lee's  motion,  induced  all  the  older  members 
of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  to  oppose  a  motion  to  arm  the 
militia  of  that  colony,  made  by  P.  Henry,  in  a  subse- 
quent year. 

On  the  sixth  of  October,  the  Congress  resumed  the 
consideration  of  the  means  proper  to  be  used  for  the 
restoration  of  their  rights.  While  it  was  deliberating, 
an  express  arrived  from  Boston,  with  a  letter  addressed 
by  the  committee  of  correspondence  of  that  town.  The 
committee  informed  Congress  of  the  military  proceed- 
ings of  General  Gage,  and  particularly  complained  of 
the  erection  of  fortifications  around  the  town,  which, 
with  the  ships  in  the  harbour,  will  command  every  ave- 

*  Ib.  page  22. 
VOL.  I. — P 


114  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

nue  into  the  town.  It  is  staled  in  the  letter,  "  that  after 
the  town  is  enclosed,  it  is  apprehended  that  the  citizens 
will  be  held  as  hostages  for  the  submission  of  the  people 
of  the  county;  they  apply,  therefore,  to  Congress  for 
advice  how  to  act;  that  if  Congress  advise  to  quit  the 
town,  they  obey;  that  if  it  is  judged,  that  by  maintain- 
ing their  ground,  they  can  better  serve  the  public  cause, 
they  will  riot  shrink  from  hardship  and  danger,  &c."* 
Every  one  must  admire  the  firm  and  generous  devotion 
to  their  country,  which  inspired  the  committee,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Boston.  To  Mr.  Lee,  no  sacrifice  could 
seem  too  great  to  be  made;  no  hardship  too  severe  to  be 
endured,  when  submission  to  tyranny,  would  be  the  con- 
sequence of  shrinking  from  suffering.  Judging  of  the 
citizens  of  Boston,  from  his  own  feelings,  and  indeed, 
from  their  own  conduct  and  declarations,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  advise  them  to  quit  the  town,  as  a  longer  sub- 
jection to  military  control,  would  be  as  inconsistent  with 
the  feelings  of  freemen,  as  the  continuance  in  the  town 
might  be  dangerous  to  themselves,  and  injurious  to  the 
pubhc  cause.  He  therefore  moved,  that  it  be  resolved, 
"  that  the  Congress  are  of  opinion,  that  it  is  inconsistent 
with  the  honour  and  safety  of  a  free  people  to  live  with- 
in the  control,  and  exposed  to  the  injuries  of  a  military 
force,  not  under  the  government  of  the  civil  power. 
And  as  General  Gage  has  thought  proper  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  town  of  Boston  with  an  armed  force,  and 
is  converting  that  once  free  city,  into  a  military  garrison, 
the  Congress  advise  from  every  motive  of  honour,  safety 
and  wisdom,  that  the  free  citizens  of  Boston,  no  longer 
expose  themselves  to  the  dangerous  consequences  of  the 
military  manoeuvring  carrying  on  against  the  town,  but 
quit  the  place,  and  find  an  asylum  among  their  hospita- 
ble countrymen,  who  will  no  doubt,  on  this  trying  occa- 
sion, display  that  virtuous  humanity,  which  may  be  so 
deservedly  exercised  towards  their  brethren  and  op- 
pressed fellow  citizens;  and  it  is  earnestly  recommended 

*  See  Journal,  p.  23. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  JJ5 

to  all  British  America,  from  time  to  time  to  supply  these, 
their  distressed  and  deserving  countrymen."4     This  re- 
solution was  rejected;  and  the  expediency  of  leaving  the 
town,  was  left  to  the  consideration  of  the  provincial  As- 
sembly.   It  was  also  resolved,  "  that  in  the  event  of  such 
a  measure,  it  would  be  recommended  to  the  colonies,  to 
contribute  towards  recompensing  them  for  any  injury 
they  may  thereby  sustain."    This  resolution  was  unani- 
mously adopted.     The  second  resolution,  which  recom- 
mended to  the  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  "  to 
submit  to  the  suspension  of  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, where  it  cannot  be  had  in  a  legal  and  peaceable 
manner,  according  to  their  present  charter,  ami  the  laws 
grounded  thereon/'  was  carried  by  a  majority.     Mr. 
Lee  voted,  however,  in  the  minority.^     It  is  not  intend- 
ed by  this  remark,  to  contrast  the  votes  of  the  two  par- 
ties.    The  majority  consisted  of  firm  and  fearless  men; 
but,  they  thought  that  conciliatory  measures  would  most 
probably  alter  the  present  policy  of  the  mother  country. 
Mr.  Lee,  on  the  contrary,  thought  that  bold  and  ener- 
getic measures  alone,  would  induce  ministers  to  redress 
our  grievances;  for  he  always  declared  it  was  obvious, 
that  they  thought  that  America  would  never  resist  by 
force,  any  edict  of  England.     He  believed,  that  if  by 
measures  just  short  of  war,  a  contrary  conviction  could 
be  produced  in  the  minds  of  the  ministry,  or  a  majority 
of  the  English  people,  war  might  be  avoided:  or.  if  still 
they  blindly  and  proudly  persevered  in  contemning  the 
spirit  of  their  colonies,  and  trampling  on  their  rights, 
the  country  would  be  prepared  for  a  resort  to  arms.    It 
is  said,  however,  that  Mr.  Lee  had  been  long  convinced, 
that  this  resort  would  be  necessary,  and  that  it  would 
terminate,  though  leading  through  danger  and  suffering, 
in  the  independence  of  his  country. 

On  the  llth  October,  it  was  resolved  unanimously, 
that  a  memorial  be  prepared  to  the  people  of  British 

*  Taken  from  the  original  manuscript  of  Mr.  Lee. 
t  Journal,  p.  25. 


115  LIFE  AND 'CORRESPONDENCE 

America,  stating  to  them  the  necessity  of  a  firm,  united; 
and  invariable  observance  of  the  measures  recommended 
by  Congress,  as  they  tender  the  invaluable  rights  and 
liberties  derived  to  them  from  the  laws  and  constitutions 
of  their  country.  Also,  that  an  address  be  prepared  to 
the  people  of  Great  Britain/'  Mr.  Lee,  Mr.  Livingston, 
and  Mr.  Jay,  were  appointed  to  prepare  the  memorial 
and  address.* 

In  an  account  given  by  the  author  of  the  "  Life  of 
Patrick  Henry/'  of  the  part  performed  by  the  gentlemen 
who  composed  the  two  leading  committees  of  this  session 
of  Congress,  viz.  that  appointed  to  prepare  the  memorial 
and  address,  and  that  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  king, 
which  was  appointed  on  the  first  instant,  it  is  stated,  that 
Mr.  Lee  was  charged  with  the  address  to  the  people  of 
England;  that  a  draught  was  reported  by  him,  which 
occasioned  great  disappointment,  and  was  recommitted, 
and  entirely  superseded  by  one  prepared  by  Mr.  Jay. 
It  is  there  also  stated,  that  the  petition  to  the  king,  which 
was  finally  adopted,  was  written  by  Mr,  Dickinson. 

It  may,  however,  be  safely  asserted,  that  this  account 
pf  the  production  of  these  celebrated  state  papers,  is,  in 
some  respects,  essentially  erroneous.  From  a  commu- 
nication which  the  author  received  from  Mr.  Jay,f  in 
reply  to  inquiries  addressed  to  him  on  this  subject,  the 
reader  will  be  satisfied,  that  the  account  here  given,  rests 
on  the  most  direct  and  authentic  information.]:  Mr.  Jay 
was  one  of  the  committee  ordered  to  prepare  the  memo- 
rial and  address,  and  must  be  supposed  to  be  well  in- 
formed of  the  proceedings  of  the  committee  to  which  he 
belonged,  and  of  the  body  in  which  he  acted.  With  the 
poet  he  can  say, 

« Quaeque  ipse  vidi — 

Et  quorum  pars  magna  fui."— 

*•  Journ.  p.  27. 

t  This  great  and  good  man  still  lives,  in  the  enjoyment  of  that 
liberty  for  which  he  laboured,  and  of  the  veneration  of  every  virtu- 
ous citizen. 

t  See  Mr.  Jay's  letter,  Appendix,  No.  3. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  H7 

From  the  communication  just  referred  to,  it  seems 
improbable  that  the  petition  to  the  king  was  written  by 
Mr.  Dickinson.     The  general  impression  has  been,  from 
its  first  appearance  to  the  present  times,  that  it  was  writ- 
ten by  Mr.  Lee.     The  author  of  the  «•  Life  of  Wash- 
ington," in  his  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Congress 
of  '74,  says,  that  the  composition  of  the  address  to  the 
people  ofEngland  had  been  generally  attributed  to  Mr. 
Jay,  and  that  of  the  petition  to  the  king  to  Mr.  Lee. 
This  general  impression  as  to  the  real  author  of  the  ad- 
dress, is  now  well  known  to  be  correct.     There  is  reason 
to  believe,  that  it  is  equally  correct,  with  regard  to  the 
writer  of  the  petition.     Mr.  Lee  was  chairman  of  the 
committee  to  prepare  the  memorial  and  address,  and  also 
of  that  to  draw  up  the  petition  to  the  king.     The  intrinsic 
evidence  that  he  was  the  writer  of  the  petition,  will  ap- 
pear very  strong  to  the  intelligent  reader,  who  will  com- 
pare the  composition  of  it  with  that  of  the  memorial  to 
the  people  of  British  America. 

It  was  agreed,  in  the  committee,  to  draw  the  memorial 
and  the  address;  that  Mr.  Lee  should  prepare  a  draught 
of  the  memorial,  which  was  the  first  both  in  order  and 
importance;  and  that  Mr.  Jay  should  prepare  a  draught 
of  the  address,  both  of  which  were  done  accordingly.* 
Thus  it  is  certain,  that  Mr.  Lee  did  not  undertake  to 
write  the  address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain.     In 
making  the  report  of  the  committee,  he  may  have  read 
k,  as  the  chairman;  the  honour  of  composing  it  belongs 
to  Mr.  Jay.     It  is  equally  certain,  that  Mr.  Lee  wrote 
the  memorial  to  the  people  of  British  America.     The 
fact  that  these  draughts,  upon  their  being  first  reported, 
were  recommitted,  does  not  justify  the  inference  of  im- 
perfection in  the  composition  of  the  originals.     It  would 
seem  probable,  that  no  writer  could  anticipate  every  idea 
which  might  be  suggested  in  a  krge  and  able  body,  or 
that  he  could  foresee  the  exact  relative  importance,  in 
its  estimation,  of  every  right,  and  the  violation  of  it.  The 

*  See  id.  in  App.  No.  3. 


AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

recommitments  were  made,  with  instructions  to  add  some 
other  matter  which  appeared  to  the  Congress  important. 
In  the  remarks  tending  to  prove  that  Mr.  Lee  was  the 
writer  of  the  petition  to  the  king,  it  must  not  be  sup- 
posed, for  a  moment,  that  the  least  intention,  or  wish, 
has  been  entertained  to  diminish  (he  fame  of  Mr.  Dick- 
inson,  to   whom   this  document  has  bee'n   sometimes 
attributed.     We  would  give  to  each,  his  own;  the  fame 
of  Mr.  Leea  does  not  require  the  slightest  diminution  of 
the  just  claims  of  honour,  of  any  of  his  great  and  pa- 
triotic  cotemporaries.     And  the  address  of  the  Con- 
gress to  the  people  of  Quebec,  is  honourable  evidence 
of  the  ability  of  Mr.  Dickinson. 

The  great   celebrity  of  the  addresses,  &c.,  of  the 
Congress  of  '74-5,  will  justify  the  author  of  this  Memoir, 
in  the  efforts  he  has  made  to  ascertain  the  true  share  of 
honour  to  which  Mr.  Lee  is  entitled.     These  public 
papers  cannot  be  too  often  read  by  the  countrymen  and 
descendants  of  their  authors.     They  inspired  the  people 
of  the  colonies  with  unbounded  confidence  in  the  wisdom 
and  ability  of  their  delegates,  and  attracted  the  admira- 
tion, respect,  and  sympathy  of  Europe,  towards  them- 
elves  and  the  cause  of  America.     The  reader  will,  no 
doubt  recollect  the  eulogy  of  Lord  Chatham.     Speak- 
ing in  the  House  of  Lords,  of  these  papers,  which  had 
reached  England,  he  said,  "  when  your  lordships  look  at 
the  papers  transmitted  to  us  from  America,*  when  you 
consider  their  decency,  firmness,  and  wisdom,  you  can- 
not but  respect  their  cause,  and  wish  to  make  it  your 
own.     For  myself,  I  must  declare  and  avow,  that  in  all 
my  reading  and  observation,  and  it  has  been  my  favourite 
study,  I  have  read  Thucydides,  and  have  studied  arid 
admired  the  master  states  of  the  world— that  for  solidity 
of  reasoning,  force  of  sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclusion, 
under  such  complication  of  circumstances,  no  nation,  or 
body  of  men,  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  general 
Congress  at  Philadelphia." 

*  The  memorial,  address,  and  petition,  were  transmitted  to  the 
colony  agents,  to  be  presented  and  printed. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  H9 

The  biographer  of  Mr.  Lee,  would  be  unfaithful  to 
his  memory,  were  he  not  to  record  in  the  history  of  his 
political  life,  that  one  of  these  admirable  productions,  of 
which  he  was  certainly  the  author. 


t(  To  the  inhabitants  of  the  colonies  of  Neiv  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Planta- 
tions, Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
the  counties  of  New  Castle,  Kent,  and  Sussex  on  Dela- 
ware, Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  South 
Carotina. 

FRIENDS  AND  COUNTRYMEN, 

We,  the  delegates  appointed  by  the  good  people  of 
these  colonies  to  meet  at  Philadelphia,  in  September  last, 
for  the  purposes  mentioned  by  our  respective  constitu- 
ents, have,  in  pursuance  of  the  trust  reposed  in  us, 
assembled,  and  taken  into  our  most  serious  considera- 
tion, the  important  matters  recommended  to  the  Con- 
gress. Our  resolutions  thereupon,  will  be  herewith 
communicated  to  you.  But  as  the  situation  of  public 
affairs  grows  daily  more  and  more  alarming;  and  as  it 
may  be  more  satisfactory  to  you  to  be  informed  by  us  in 
a  collective  body,  than  in  any  other  manner,  of  those 
sentiments  that  have  been  approved,  upon  a  full  and  free 
discussion,  by  the  representatives  of  so  great  a  part  of 
America,  we  esteem  ourselves  obliged  to  add  this  ad- 
dress to  these  resolutions. 

In  every  case  of  opposition  by  a  people  to  their  rulers, 
or  of  one  state  to  another,  duty  to  Almighty  God,  the 
Creator  of  all,  requires  that  a  true  and  impartial  judg- 
ment be  formed  of  the  measures  leading  to  such  oppo- 
sition; and  of  the  causes  by  which  it  has  been  provoked, 
or  can  in  any  degree  be  justified,  that  neither  affection 
on  the  one  hand,  nor  resentment  on  the  other,  being 
permitted  to  give  a  wrong  bias  to  reason,  it  may  be 
enabled  to  take  a  dispassionate  view  of  all  circumstances, 
and  to  settle  the  public  conduct  on  the  solid  foundations 
of  wisdom  and  justice. 


120  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

From  councils  thus  tempered  arise  tbe  surest  hopes 
of  the  divine  favour,  the  firmest  encouragement  to  the 
parties  engaged,  and  the  strongest  recommendation  of 
their  cause  to  the  rest  of  mankind. 

With  minds  deeply  impressed  by  a  sense  of  these 
truths,  we  have  diligently,  deliberately,  and  calmly  in- 
quired into,  and  considered  those  exertions,  both  of  the 
legislative  and  executive  power  of  Great  Britain,  which 
have  excited  so  much  uneasiness  in  America,  and  have, 
with  equal  fidelity  and  attention,  considered  the  conduct 
of  the  colonies.  Upon  the  whole,  we  find  ourselves  re- 
duced to  the  disagreeable  alternative  of  being  silent  and 
betraying  the  innocent,  or  of  speaking  out  and  censuring 
those  we  wish  to  revere.  In  making  our  choice  of  these 
distressing  difficulties,  we  prefer  the  course  dictated  by 
honesty,  and  a  regard  for  the  welfare  of  our  country. 

Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  the  late  war,  there  com- 
menced a  memorable  change  in  the  treatment  of  these 
colonies.     By  a  statute  made  in  the  fourth  year  of  the 
present  reign,  a  time  of  profound  peace,  alleging,  "  the 
expediency  of  new  provisions  and  regulations  for  ex- 
tending the  commerce  between  Great  Britain  and  his 
majesty's  dominions  in  America,  and  the  necessity  of 
raising  a  revenue  in  the  said  dominions  for  defraying  the 
expenses  of  defending,  protecting,  and   securing  the 
same,"  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain  undertook  to  give 
and  grant  to  his  majesty  many  rates  and  duties,  to  be 
paid  in  these  colonies.     To  enforce  the  observance  of 
this  act,  it  prescribes  a  great  number  of  severe  penalties 
and  forfeitures;  and  in  two  sections  makes  a  remarkable 
distinction  between  the  subjects  in  Great  Britain,  and 
those  in  America.     By  the  one,  the  penalties  and  for- 
feitures incurred  there,  are  to  be  recovered  in  any  of  the 
king's  courts  of  record  at  Westminster,  or  in  the  court 
of  exchequer  in  Scotland;  and  by  the  other,  the  penal- 
ties and  forfeitures  incurred  here,  are  to  be  recovered  in 
any  court  of  record,  or  in  any  court  of  admiralty,  or 
vice  admiralty,  at  the  election  of  the  informer  or  prose- 
cutor. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

The  inhabitants  of  these  colonies,  confiding  in  the 
justice  of  Great  Britain,  were  scarcely  allowed  sufficient 
time  to  receive  and  consider  this  act,  before  another,  well 
known  by  the  name  of  the  stamp  act,  and  passed  in  the  fifth 
year  of  this  reign,  engrossed  their  whole  attention.  By 
this  statute  the  British  Parliament  exercised  in  the  most 
explicit  manner  a  power  of  taxing  us,  and  extending  the 
jurisdiction  of  courts  of  admiralty  and  vice  admiralty  in 
the  colonies,  to  matters  arising  within  the  body  of  a 
county,  and  directed  the  numerous  penalties  and  for- 
feitures thereby  inflicted,  to  be  recovered  in  the  said 
courts. 

In  the  same  year  a  tax  was  imposed  upon  us,  by  an 
act  establishing  several  new  fees  in  the  customs.  In  the 
next  year  the  stamp  act  was  repealed;  not  because  it  was 
founded  in  an  erroneous  principle,  but,  as  the  repealing 
act  recites,  because  "  the  continuance  thereof  would  be 
attended  with  many  inconveniences,  and  might  be  pro- 
ductive of  consequences  greatly  detrimental  to  the  com- 
mercial interest  of  Great  Britain." 

In  the  same  year,  and  by  a  subsequent  act  it  was  de- 
clared, "  that  his  majesty  in  Parliament,  of  right,  had 
power  to  bind  the  people  of  these  colonies  by  statutes  in 
all  cases  whatsoVer." 

In  the  same  year,  another  act  was  passed,  for  impos- 
ing rates  and  duties  payable  in  these  colonies.  In  this 
statute  the  commons,  avoiding  the  terms  of  giving  and 
granting  "  humbly  besought  his  majesty  that  it  might  be 
enacted,  &c."  But  from  a  declaration  in  the  preamble, 
that  the  rates  and  duties  were  "  in  lieu  of"  several  others 
granted  by  the  statute  first  before  mentioned  for  rais- 
ing a  revenue,  and  from  some  other  expressions  it  ap- 
pears, that  these  duties  were  intended  for  that  purpose. 

In  the  next  year,  [1767,]  an  act  was  made  "  to  enable 
his  majesty  to  put  the  customs  and  other  duties  in  Ame- 
rica under  the  management  of  commissioners,  &c."  and 
the  king  thereupon  erected  the  present  expensive  board 
of  commissioners,  for  the  express  purpose  of  carrying 
VOL.  i. — q 


122  Lir 

into  execution  (he  several  acts  relating  to  the  revenue 
and  trade  in  America. 

After  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act,  having  again  re- 
signed ourselves  to  our  ancient  unsuspicious  affections 
for  the  parent  state,  and  anxious  to  avoid  any  controversy 
with  her,  in  hopes  of  a  favourable  alteration  in  senti* 
menls  and  measures  towards  us,  we  did  not  press  our 
objections  against  the  above  mentioned  statutes,  made 
subsequent  to  that  repeal. 

Administration,  attributing  to  trifling  causes,  a  conduct 
that  really  proceeded  from  generous  motives,  were  en- 
couraged in  the  same  year,  (1767)  to  make  a  bolder 
experiment  on  the  patience  of  America. 

By  a  statute,  commonly  called  the  glass,  paper,  and 
tea  act,  made  fifteen  months  after  the  repeal  of  the  stamp 
act,  the  Commons  of  Great  Britain  resumed  their  former 
language,  and  again  undertook  to  "give  and  grant  rates  and 
duties  to  be  paid  in  these  colonies/'  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  •'  raising  a  revenue,  to  defray  the  charges  of  the 
administration  of  justice,  the  support  of  civil  government, 
and  defending  the  king's  dominions,"  on  this  continent. 
The  penalties  and  forfeitures,  incurred  under  this  statute, 
are  to  be  recovered  in  the  same  manner,  with  those  men- 
tioned in  the  foregoing  acts. 

To  this  statute,  so  naturally  tending  to  disturb  the 
tranquillity  then  universal  throughout  the  colonies,  Par- 
liament, in  the  same  session,  added  another,  no  less  ex- 
traordinary. 

Ever  since  the  making  the  present  peace,  a  standing 
army  has  been  kept  in  these  colonies.  From  respect 
for  the  mother  country,  the  innovation  was  not  only  tole- 
rated, but  the  provincial  legislatures  generally  made  pro- 
vision for  supplying  the  troops. 

The  Assembly  of  the  province  of  New  York,  having 
passed  an  act  of  this  kind,  but  differing  in  some  articles, 
from  the  directions  of  the  act  of  Parliament  made  in 
the  fifth  year  of  this  reign,  the  House  of  Representatives 
in  that  colony  was  prohibited  by  a  statute  made  in  the 
last  session  mentioned,  from  making  any  bill,  order. 


Or   RICIIAHD  HENRY  LEE. 


resolution,  or  vote,  except  for  adjourning  or  choosing  a 
speaker,  until  provision  should  be  made  by  the  said 
Assembly  for  furnishing  the  troops  within  that  province, 
not  only  with  all  such  necessaries  as  were  required  by 
the  statute  which  they  were  charged  with  disobeying, 
but  also  with  those  required  by  two  other  subsequent 
statutes,  which  were  declared,  to  be  in  force,  until  the 
twenty-fourth  day  of  March,  1769. 

These  statutes  of  the  year  1767,  revived  the  appre- 
hensions and  discontents,  that  had  entirely  subsided  on 
the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act;  and  amidst  the  just  fears 
and  jealousies  thereby  occasioned,  a  statute  was  made  in 
the  next  year  (1768)  to  establish  courts  of  admiralty  and 
vice-admiralty  on  a  new  model,  expressly  for  the  end  of 
more  effectually  recovering  the  penalties  and  forfei- 
tures inflicted  by  acts  of  Parliament,  framed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  a  revenue  in  America,  £c. 

The  immediate  tendency  of  these  statutes,  is  to  sub- 
vert the  right  of  having  a  share  in  legislation,  by  render- 
ing Assemblies  useless;  the  right  of  property,  by  taking 
the  money  of  the  colonists  without  their  consent;  the 
right  of  trial  by  jury,  by  substituting  in  their  place,  trials 
in  admiralty  and  vice-admiralty  courts,  where  single 
judges  preside,  holding  their  commissions  during  plea- 
sure; and  unduly  to  influence  the  courts  of  common  law, 
by  rendering  the  judges  thereof,  totally  dependent  on  the 
crown  for  their  salaries. 

These  statutes,  not  to  mention  many  others  exceed- 
ingly exceptionable,  compared  one  with  another,  will  be 
found,  -not  only  to  form  a  regular  system,  in  which  every 
part  has  great  force,  but  also  a  pertinacious  adherence 
to  that  system,  for  subjugating  these  colonies,  that  are 
not,  and  from  local  circumstances,  cannot  be  represented 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  to  the  uncontrolable  and 
unlimited  power  of  Parliament,  in  violation  of  their 
undoubted  rights  and  liberties,  in  contempt  of  their 
humble  and  repeated  supplications. 

This  conduct  must  appear  equally  astonishing  and  un- 
justifiable. when  it  is  considered  how  unprovoked  it  has 


124,  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

been  by  any  behaviour  of  these  colonies.  From  their 
first  settlement,  their  bitterest  enemies  never  fixed  on 
any  of  them  a  charge  of  disloyalty  to  their  sovereign,  or 
disaffection  to  their  mother  country.  In  the  wars  she 
has  carried  on,  they  have  exerted  themselves  whenever 
required,  in  giving  her  assistance;  and  have  rendered 
her  services,  which  she  has  publicly  acknowledged  to  be 
extremely  important.  Their  fidelity,  duty,  and  useful- 
ness during  the  last  war,  were  frequently  and  affection- 
ately confessed  by  his  late  majesty  and  the  present 
king. 

The  reproaches  of  those  who  are  most  unfriendly  to 
the  freedom  of  America,  are  principally  levelled  against 
the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay;  but  with  what  little 
reason,  will  appear  by  the  following  declarations  of  a 
person,  the  truth  of  whose  evidence  in  their  favour,  will 
not  be  questioned.  Governor  Bernard  thus  addresses 
the  two  Houses  of  Assembly  in  his  speech  on  the  24th 
of  April,  1762 — "The  unanimity  and  despatch,  with 
which  you  have  complied  with  the  requisitions  of  his 
majesty,  require  my  particular  acknowledgment.  And 
it  gives  me  additional  pleasure  to  observe,  that  you  have 
therein  acted  under  no  other  influence  than  a  due  sense 
of  your  duty,  both  as  members  of  a  general  empire,  and 
as  the  body  of  a  particular  province/' 

In  another  speech  on  the  27th  of  May,  in  the  same 
year,  he  says, — "  Whatever  shall  be  the  event  of  the 
war,  it  must  be  no  small  satisfaction  to  qs,  that  this  pro- 
vince hath  contributed  its  full  share  to  the  support  of  it. 
Every  thing  that  hath  been  required  of  it  hath  been 
complied  with;  and  the  execution  of  the  powers  com- 
mitted to  me,  for  raising  the  provincial  troops  hath  been 
as  full  and  complete  as  the  grant  of  them.  Never  be- 
fore were  regiments  so  easily  levied,  so  well  composed, 
and  so  early  in  the  field  as  they  have  been  this  year:  the 
common  people  seem  to  be  animated  with  the  spirit  of 
the  general  court,  and  to  vie  with  them  in  their  readi- 
ness to  serve  the  king." 

Such  was  the  conduct  of  the  people  of  the  Massachti' 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

setts  Bay  during  the  last  war.  As  to  their  behaviour 
before  that  period,  it  ought  not  to  have  been  forgot  in 
Great  Britain,  that  not  only  on  every  occasion  they  had 
constantly  and  cheerfully  complied  with  the  frequent 
royal  requisitions — but  that  chiefly  by  their  vigorous  ef- 
forts, Nova  Scotia  was  subdued  in  1710,  and  Louisbourg 
in  1745. 

Foreign  quarrels  being  ended,  and  the  domestic  dis- 
turbances that  quickly  succeeded  on  account  of  the  stamp 
act,  being  quieted  by  its  repeal,  the  Assembly  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  transmitted  an  humble  address  of  thanks 
to  the  king  and  divers  noblemen,  and  soon  after  passed 
a  bill  for  granting  compensation  to  the  sufferers  in  the 
disorder  occasioned  by  that  act. 

These  circumstances  and  the  following  extracts  from 
Governor  Bernard's  letters  in  1768,  to  the  Earl  of  Shel- 
burne,  secretary  of  state,  clearly  show,  with  what  grate- 
ful tenderness  they  strove  to  bury  in  oblivion  the  un- 
happy occasion  of  the  late  discords,  and  with  what 
respectful  deference  they  endeavoured  to  escape  other 
subjects  of  future  controversy.  "  The  House,  (says  the 
governor,)  from  the  time  of  opening  the  session  to  this 
day,  has  shown  a  disposition  to  avoid  all  dispute  with 
me;  every  thing  having  passed  with  as  much  good  hu- 
mour as  I  could  desire,  except  only  their  continuing  to 
act  in  addressing  the  king,  remonstrating  to  the  secre- 
tary of  state,  and  employing  a  separate  agent.  It  is  the 
importance  of  this  innovation,  without  any  wilfulness 
of  my  own,  which  induces  me  to  make  this  remon- 
strance at  a  time  when  I  have  a  fair  prospect  of  having, 
in  all  other  business,  nothing  but  good  to  say  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  House."* 

*e  They  have  acted  in  all  things,  even  in  their  remon- 
strance, with  temper  and  moderation ;  they  have  avoided 
some  subjects  of  dispute,  and  have  laid  a  foundation  for 
removing  some  causes, of  former  altercation."! 
"  I  shall  make  such  a  prudent  and  proper  use  of  this 

*  January  21, 170$.  t  January  30,  1768. 


126  UfrE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

letter,  as  I  hope,  will  perfectly  restore  the  peace  and 
tranquillity  of  this  province,  lor  which  purpose  conside- 
rable steps  have  been  made  by- the  House  of  Represent- 
atives."'* 

The  vindication  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  contained  in  these  letters,  will  have  greater  force, 
if  it  be  considered,  that  they  were  written  several  months 
after  the  fresh  alarm  given  to  the  colonies  by  the  statutes 
passed  in  the  preceding  year. 

In  this  place  it  seems  proper  to  take  notice  of  the 
insinuation  of  one  of  those  statutes,  that  the  interference 
of  Parliament  was  necessary  to  provide  for  u  defraying 
the  charge  of  the  administration  of  justice,  the  support 
of  civil  government,  and  defending  the  king's  dominions 
in  America.3' 

As  to  the  two  first  articles  of  expense,  every  colony 
had  made  such  provision,  as  by  their  respective  Assem- 
blies, the  best  judges  on  such  occasions,  was  thought, 
expedient,  and  suitable  to  their  several  circumstances; 
respecting  the  last,  it  is  well  known  to  all  men,  the  least 
acquainted  with  American  affairs,  that  the  colonies  were 
established,  and  generally  defended  themselves,  without 
the  least  assistance  from  Great  Britain;  and,  that  at  the 
time  of  her  taxing  them  by  the  statutes  before  mention- 
ed, most  of  them  were  labouring  under  very  heavy  debts, 
contracted  in  the  last  war.  So  far  were  they  from 
sparing  their  money,  when  their  sovereign,  constitution- 
ally asked  their  aids,  that  during  the  course  of  that  war, 
Parliament  repeatedly  made  them  compensations  for  the 
expen  es  of  those  strenuous  efforts,  which,  consulting 
their  zeal  rather  than  their  strength,  they  had  cheerfully 
incurred. 

Scvoie  as  the  acts  of  Parliament  before  mentioned 
are,  yet  the  conduct  of  administration  hath  been  equally 
injurious  and  irritating,  to  this  devoted  country. 

Under  pretence  of  governing  them,  so  many  new 
institutions,  uniformly  rigid  and  dangerous,. have  beer* 

*  Februarys,  1768. 


OF  RICHAKD  HENRY  LEE. 

introduced,  as  could  only  be  expected  from  incensed 
masters,  for  collecting  the  tribute  or  rather  the  plunder 
of  conquered  provinces. 

By  an  order  of  the  king,  the  authority  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  and  under  him,  of  the  brigadier-generals, 
in  time  of  peace,  is  rendered  supreme  in  all  the  civil 
governments  in  America;  and  thus,  an  uncontrolable 
military  power  is  vested  in  officers,  not  known  to  the 
constitution  of  these  colonies. 

A  large  body  of  troops,  and  a  considerable  armament 
of  ships  of  war,  have  been  sent  to  assist  in  taking  their 
money  without  their  consent. 

Expensive  and  oppressive  offices  have  been  multiplied, 
and  the  acts  of  corruption  industriously  practised  to  di- 
vide and  destroy. 

The  judges  of  the  admiralty  and  vice-admiralty  courts 
are  impowered  to  receive  their  salaries  and  fees  from 
the  effects  to  be  condemned  by  themselves. 

The  commissioners  of  the  customs  are  empowered  to 
break  open  houses  without  the  authority  of  any  civil 
magistrate,  founded  on  legal  information. 

Judges  of  courts  of  common  law,  have  been  made 
entirely  dependent  on  the  crown  for  their  commissions 
and  salaries. 

A  court  has  been  established  at  Rhode  Island,  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  colonists  to  England  to  be  tried. 

Humble  and  reasonable  petitions  from  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  have  been  frequently  treated  with 
contempt;  and  Assemblies  have  been  repeatedly  and 
arbitrarily  dissolved. 

From  some  few  instances,  it  will  sufficiently  appear, 
on  what  pretences  of  justice  those  dissolutions  have  been 
founded. 

The  tranquillity  of  the  colonies  having  been  again 
disturbed,  as  has  been  mentioned,  by  the  statutes  of  the 
year  1767;  the  earl  of  Hillsborough,  secretary  of  state, 
in  a  letter  to  Governor  Bernard,  dated  April  22,  1768, 
censures  the  "  presumption"  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, for  "  resolving  on  a  measure  of  so  inflamma- 


12$  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

tory  a  nature,  as  that  of  writing  to  the  other  colonies,  on 
the  subject  of  their  intended  representations  against  the 
late  acts  of  Parliament,"  then  declares  that  u  his  majesty 
considers  this  step  as  evidently  tending  to  create  unwar- 
rantable combinations,  to  excite  an  unjustifiable  opposi- 
tion to  the  constitutional  authority  of  Parliament:'5  and 
afterwards  adds,  4fc  It  is  the  king's  pleasure,  that  as  soon 
as  the  general  court  is  again  assembled,  at  the  time  pre- 
scribed by  the  charter,  you  should  require  the  House  of 
Representatives,  in  his  majesty's  name,  to  rescind  the 
resolution  which  gave  birth  to  the  circular  letter  from 
the  speaker,  and  to  declare  their  disapprobation  of,  and 
dissent  to  that  rash  and  hasty  proceeding.'5 

*•  If  the  new  Assembly  should  refuse  to  comply  with 
his  majesty's  reasonable  expectation,  it  is  the  king's  plea- 
sure, that  you  should  immediately  dissolve  them." 

This  letter  being  laid  before  the  House,  and  the  reso- 
lution not  being  rescinded  according  to  order,  the  As- 
sembly was  dissolved.  A  letter  of  a  similar  nature  was 
sent  to  other  governors  to  procure  resolutions  approving 
the  conduct  of  the  representatives  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
to  be  rescinded  also;  and  the  Houses  of  Representatives 
in  other  colonies  refusing  to  comply,  Assemblies  were 
dissolved. 

These  mandates  spoke  a  language,  to  which  the  ears 
of  English  subjects  had  for  several  generations  been 
strangers.  The  nature  of  Assemblies  implies  a  power 
and  right  of  deliberation;  but  these  commands,  proscrib- 
ing the  exercise  of  judgment  on  the  propriety  of  the 
requisitions  made,  left  to  the  Assemblies  only  the  election 
between  dictated  submission,  and  threatened  punish- 
ment: a  punishment  too,  founded  on  no  other  act,  than 
such  as  is  deemed  innocent  even  in  slaves — of  agreeing 
in  petitions  for  redress  of  grievances,  that  equally  affect 
all. 

The  hostile  and  unjustifiable  invasion  of  the  town  of 
Boston,  soon  followed  these  events  in  the  same  year; 
though  that  town,  the  province  in  which  it  is  situated, 
and  all  the  colonies,  from  abhorrence  of  a  contest  with 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  MMSr 

their  parent  state,  permitted  the  execution  even  of  those 
statutes,  against  which  they  so  unanimously  were  com- 
plaining, remonstrating,  and  supplicating. 

Administration,  determined  to  subdue  a  spirit  of  free- 
dom, which  English  ministers  should  have  rejoiced  to 
cherish,  entered  into  a  monopolizing  combination  with 
the  East  India  Company,  to  send  to  this  continent  vast 
quantities  of  tea,  an  article,  on  which  a  duty  was  laid 
by  a  statute,  that  in  a  particular  manner,  attacked  the 
liberties  of  America,  and  which,  therefore,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  these  colonies  had  resolved  not  to  import.  The 
cargo  sent  to  South  Carolina  was  stored,  and  not  allowed 
to  be  sold.  Those  sent  to  Philadelphia  and  New  York, 
were  not  permitted  to  be  landed.  That  sent  to  Boston 
was  destroyed,  because  governor  Hutchinson,  would  not 
suffer  it  to  be  returned. 

On  the  intelligence  of  these  transactions  arriving  in 
Great  Britain,  the  public  spirited  town  last  mentioned, 
was  singled  out  for  destruction,  and  it  was  determined 
the  province  it  belongs  to,  should  partake  of  its  fate.  In 
the  last  session  of  Parliament,  therefore  were  passed  the 
acts  for  shutting  up  the  port  of  Boston,  indemnifying  the 
murderers  of  the  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and 
changing  their  chartered  constitution  of  government. 
To  enforce  these  acts,  that  province  is  again  invaded  by 
a  fleet  and  army. 

To  mention  these  outrageous  proceedings,  is  sufficient 
to  explain  them.     For  though  it  is  pretended,  that  the 
province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  has  been  particularly 
disrespectful  to  Great  Britain,  yet  in  truth  the  behaviour 
of  the  people,  in  other  colonies,  has  been  an  equal  "  op- 
position to  the  power  assumed  by  parliament."   No  step 
however  has  been  taken  against  any  of  the  rest.     This 
artful  conduct  conceals  several  designs.     It  is  expected 
that  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  wfll  be  irritated 
into  some  violent  action,  that  may  displease  the  rest  of  the 
continent,  or  that  may  induce  the  people  of  Great  Bri- 
tain to  approve  the  meditated  vengeance  of  an  impru- 
dent and  exasperated  ministry.     If  the  unexampled 
VOL.  i. — R 


AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

pacific  temper  of  that  province  shall  disappoint  this  part 
of  the  plan,  it  is  hoped  the  other  colonies  will  be  so  far 
intimidated  as  to  desert  their  brethren,  suffering  in  a 
common  cause,  and  that  thus  disunited,  all  may  be 
subdued. 

To  promote  these  designs,  another  measure  has  been 
pursued.  In  the  session  of  Parliament  last  mentioned, 
an  act  was  passed  for  changing  the  government  of  Que- 
bec, by  which  act  the  Roman  Catholic  Religion,  instead 
of  being  tolerated,  as  stipulated  by  the  treaty  of  peace, 
is  established;  and  the  people  there  are  deprived  of  a 
right  to  an  Assembly,  trials  by  jury,  and  the  English  laws 
in  civil  cases  are  abolished,  and  instead  thereof,  the 
French  laws  are  established,  in  direct  violation  of  his 
majesty's  promise  by  his  royal  proclamation,  under  the 
faith  of  which  many  English  subjects  settled  in  that 
province,  and  the  limits  of  that  province  are  extended  so 
as  to  comprehend  those  vast  regions,  that  lie  adjoining 
to  the  northerly  and  westerly  boundaries  of  these  colo- 
nies. 

The  authors  of  this  arbitrary  arrangement  flatter 
themselves,  that  the  inhabitants  deprived  of  liberty,  and 
artfully  provoked  against  those  of  another  religion,  will 
be  proper  instruments  for  assisting  in  the  oppression  of 
such,  as  differ  from  them  in  modes  of  government  and 
faith. 

From  the  detail  of  facts  herein  before  recited,  as  well 
as  from  authentic  intelligence  received,  it  is  clear  beyond 
a  doubt,  that  a  resolution  is  formed  and  now  carrying 
into  execution,  to  extinguish  the  freedom  of  these  colo- 
nies, by  subjecting  them  to  a  despotic  government. 

At  this  unhappy  period,  we  have  been  authorized  and 
directed  to  meet  and  consult  together  for  the  welfare  of 
our  common  country.  We  accepted  the  important  trust 
with  diffidence,  but  have  endeavoured  to  discharge  it 
with  integrity.  Though  the  state  of  these  colonies 
would  certainly  justify  other  measures  than  we  have  ad- 
vised, yet  weighty  reasons  determined  us  to  prefer  those 
which  we  have  adopted.  In  the  first  place,  it  appeared  to 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

us  a  conduct  becoming  the  character,  these  colonies 
have  ever  sustained,  to  perform,  even  in  the  midst  of  the 
unnatural  distresses  and  imminent  dangers  that  surround 
them,  every  act  of  loyalty,  and  therefore,  we  were  in- 
duced once  more  to  offer  to  his  majesty,  the  petitions  of 
his  faithful  and  oppressed  subjects  in  America.  Se- 
condly, regarding  with  the  tender  affection,  which  we 
knew  to  be  so  universal  among  our  countrymen,  the  peo- 
ple of  the  kingdom,  from  which  we  derive  our  origin, 
we  could  not  forbear  to  regulate  our  steps  by  an  expec- 
tation of  receiving  full  conviction,  that  the  colonists  are 
equally  dear  to  them.  Between  these  provinces  and  that 
body  subsists  the  social  band,  which  we  ardently  wish 
may  never  be  dissolved,  and  which  cannot  be  dissolved, 
until  their  minds  shall  become  indisputably  hostile,  or 
their  inattention  shall  permit  those  who  are  thus  hostile 
to  persist  in  prosecuting  with  the  powers  of  the  realm, 
the  destructive  measures  already  operating  against  the 
colonists,  and  in  either  case,  shall  reduce  the  latter  to 
such  a  situation,  that  they  shall  be  compelled  to  re- 
nounce every  regard,  but  that  of  self-preservation.  Not- 
withstanding the  violence  with  which  affairs  have  been 
impelled,  they  have  not  yet  reached  that  fatal  point.— 
We  do  not  incline  to  accelerate  their  motion,  already 
alarmingly  rapid;  we  have  chosen  a  method  of  opposi- 
tion, that  does  not  preclude  a  hearty  reconciliation  with 
our  fellow  citizens,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
We  deeply  deplore  the  urgent  necessity,  that  presses  us 
to  an  immediate  interruption  of  commerce,  that  may 
prove  injurious  to  them.  We  trust  they  will  acquit  us 
of  any  unkind  intentions  towards  them,  by  reflecting, 
that  we  are  driven  by  the  hands  of  violence,  into  unex- 
perienced and  unexpected  public  convulsions,  and  that 
we  are  contending  for  freedom,  so  often  contended  for 
by  our  ancestors. 

The  people  of  England  will  soon  have  an  opportunity 
of  declaring  their  sentiments  concerning  our  cause.  In 
their  piety,  generosity,  a»d  good  sense,  we  repose  high 
confidence;  and  cannot,  upon  a  review  of  past  events. 


132  LI*E  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

be  persuaded,  that  they,  the  defenders  of  true  religion, 
and  the  asserters  of  the  rights  of  mankind,  will  take  part 
against  their  affectionate  protestant  brethren  in  the  colo- 
nies, in  favour  of  our  open,  and  their  own  secret  enemies, 
whose  intrigues,  for  several  years  past,  have  been  wholly 
exercised  in  sapping  the  foundations  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty. 

Another  reason  that  engaged  us  to  prefer  the  com- 
mercial mode  of  opposition,  arose  from  an  assurance, 
that  the  mode  will  prove  efficacious,  if  it  be  persisted  in 
with  fidelity  and  virtue;  and  that  your  conduct  will  be 
influenced  by  these  laudable  principles,  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned. Your  own  salvation,  and  that  of  your  posterity, 
now  depends  upon  yourselves.  You  have  already  shown 
that  you  entertain  a  proper  sense  of  the  blessings  you 
are  striving  to  retain.  Against  the  temporary  inconve- 
niences you  may  suffer  from  a  stoppage  of  trade,  you 
will  weigh  in  the  opposite  balance,  the  endless  miseries 
yoa  and  your  descendants  must  endure,  from  an  esta- 
blished arbitrary  power.  You  will  not  forget  the  honour 
of  your  country,  that  must,  from  your  behaviour,  take 
its  title  in  the  estimation  of  the  world,  to  glory,  or  to 
shame;  and  you  will,  with  the  deepest  attention,  reflect, 
that  if  the  peaceable  mode  of  opposition  recommended 
by  us,  be  broken  and  rendered  ineffectual,  as  your  cruel 
and  haughty  ministerial  enemies,  from  a  contemptuous 
opinion  of  your  firmness,  insolently  predict  will  be  the 
case,  you  must  inevitably  be  reduced  to  choose,  either  a 
more  dangerous  contest,  or  a  final,  ruinous,  and  infamous 
submission. 

Motives  thus  cogent,  arising  from  the  emergency  of 
your  unhappy  coalition,  must  excite  your  utmost  dili- 
gence and  zeal,  to  give  all  possible  strength  and  energy 
to  the  pacific  measures  calculated  for  your  relief:  but 
we  think  ourselves  bound  in  duty  to  observe  to  you, 
that  the  schemes  agitated  against  these  colonies,  have 
been  so  conducted,  as  to  render  it  prudent,  that  you 
should  extend  your  views  to  mournful  events,  and  be  in 
9,11  respects  prepared  for  every  contingency.  Above  all 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

things,  we  earnestly  entreat  you,  with  devotion  of  spirit, 
penitence  of  heart,  and  amendment  of  life,  to  humble 
yourselves,  and  implore  the  favour  of  Almighty  God: 
and  we  fervently  beseech  his  Divine  Goodness,  to  take 
you  into  his  gracious  protection." 

On  the  21st  instant,  it  was  Resolved  "That  an 
address  be  prepared  to  the  people  of  Quebec,  and 
letters  to  the  colonies  of  St.  John's,  Nova  Scotia,  Geor- 
gia, East  and  West  Florida,  who  have  not  sent  deputies  to 
represent  them  in  this  Congress. v*  It  was  ordered, 
"that  Mr.  Cushing,  Mr.  Lee,  and  Mr.  Dickinson,  be  a 
committee  to  prepare  the  above  address  and  letters." 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  October,  it  was  resolved,  "  that 
the  address  to  the  king,  (which  had  been  reported  and 
adopted,)  be  enclosed  in  a  letter  to  the  several  colony 
agents,  in  order  that  the  same  may  be,  by  them,  present- 
ed to  his  majesty;  and  that  the  agents  be  requested  to 
call  in  the  aid  of  such  noblemen  and  gentlemen  as  are 
esteemed  firm  friends  to  American  liberty.  Ordered 
that  Mr.  Lee,  and  Mr.  Jay,  prepare  a  letter  to  the 
agents."f  Mr.  Lee  wrote  the  tetter,  which  was  report- 
ed the  following  day  and  adopted. J 

A  short  account  has  been  given  of  the  proceedings  of 
that  truly  illustrious  body;  the  delegates  of  the  twelve 
colonies,  assembled  in  general  Congress,  in  Philadelphia, 
in  1774.  It  was  due  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Lee,  to 
present  to  his  countrymen,  a  sketch  of  the  part  he 
acted  in  that  Assembly.  His  abilities,  industry  and  pa- 
triotism, were  no  less  beneficial  to  his  country,  than  they 
were  honourable  to  himself.  He  merited  and  obtained 
the  thanks,  not  only  of  his  native  state,  but  of  all  the 
friends  of  America. 


*  See  Journ.  p.  56.  f  Ibid.  p.  57. 

$  See  Mr.  Jay's  letter,  Ap.  No.  Hi. 


134  *-HFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 


CHAPTER  VL 

THE  moderation  and  firmness  of  the  Congress,  and 
the  ability  of  their  addresses,  made  great  impression  upon 
the  public  mind  in  England.  For  a  time,  even  the  mi- 
nistry paused!  They  were  universally  read  and  admired. 
They  exhibited  a  knowledge  of  the  constitution,  and  a 
strength  of  argument,  which  the  best  informed  men  be- 
Jieved  could  not  have  been  found  in  the  colonies.  The 
effect  of  these  on  the  English  nation,  and  the  opinion 
of  Lord  Chatham  respecting  them,  are  stated  in  the 
following  letter,  written  by  Mr.  Arthur  Lee,  one  of  the 
Colony  Agents,  to  his  brother. 

"LONDON,  December  22d,  1774. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER — The  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
gress meet  with  universal  approbation  here,  and  have 
operated  like  an  electrical  shock,  upon  the  ministry  and 
their  dependants.  They  begin  to  reprobate  their  own 
measures,  and  each  to  exonerate  himself  from  the  charge 
of  having  advised  them.  The  King  consented^  receive 
the  petition  of  the  Congress,  and  Lord  Dartifoouth  told 
us,  it  was  found  to  be  decent  and  respectful.?  I  expect 
we  shall  receive  his  majesty's  answer  time  enough  to 
send  with  this. 

The  merchants  have  advertised  for  a  meeting,  and 
every  thing  seems  to  promise  a  speedy  accommodation, 
The  terms  of  that  must  depend  on  you.  Your  demands 
must  be  made  with  great  moderation,  and  should  not, 
nay,  I  think,  cannot,  be  receded  from  one  iota.  Depend 
upon  it,  the  same  firmness  and  unanimity  which  have 
compelled  a  conciliatory  disposition,  will  enforce  a  full 
redress.  Be  therefore  firm,  and  fear  not.  The  excess 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

of  my  anxiety  for  our  ultimate  success  and  the  termina- 
tion of  these  unhappy  disturbances,  makes  me  sometimes 
apprehensive,  that  these  specious  appearances  will  make 
you  remiss  in  your  preparations  for  a  different  conduct; 
that  you  will  forget  that  he  who  sheathes  the  sword  be- 
fore the  peace  is  concluded,  exposes  himself  to  a  shame- 
ful defeat.  But,  trusting  to  your  wisdom,  I  hope  you 
will  treat  them  as  appearances  only,  which  firmness, 
vigilance,  and  unanimity  alone,  on  your  part,  can  realize. 

December  24th,  Lord  Dartmouth,  this  day  informed 
us  that  his  majesty  received  your  petition  very  gracious- 
ly, and  for  its  importance,  would  lay  it  before  his  houses 
of  Parliament,  when  they  met. 

I  communicate  to  yon  the  following  copy  of  a  letter 
from  Lord  Chatham,  because  I  think  it  must  give  you 
infinite  satisfaction.  At  the  same  time  I  must  entreat 
you,  not  to  let  it  get  into  the  press,  as  it  would  be  a 
breach  of  honour  in  me.  "  I  have  not  words  to  express 
the  infinite  satisfaction  which  I  feel  since  Congress  has 
conducted  this  most  arduous  and  delicate  business,  with 
such  manly  wisdom  and  calm  resolution,  as  do  the  high- 
est honour  to  their  deliberations.  Very  few  are  the 
things  contained  in  their  resolves,  that  I  could  wish  to 
be  otherwise.  Upon  the  whole,  I  think  it  must  be  evi- 
dent to  every  unprejudiced  man  in  England,  who  feels 
for  the  rights  of  mankind,  that  America,  under  all  her 
oppressions  and  provocations,  holds  out  to  us  the  most 
fair  and  just  opening  for  restoring  harmony  and  affec- 
tionate intercourse  as  heretofore.  I  hope  that  the  minds 
of  men,  are  more  than  beginning  to  open  on  this  great 
subject  so  little  understood,  and  that  it  will  be  found 
impossible  for  freemen  in  England,  to  see  three  millions 
of  Englishmen,  slaves  in  America/' 

Such  praise  from  the  character  of  the  age,  ought  to 
inspire  you  with  confidence,  if  any  thing  can  add  to  the 
conscious  dignity  of  freemen,  and  make  you  resolve  to 
maintain  your  demands  with  immovable  firmness. 

December  26th,  I  was  yesterday  in  the  country  with 
Lord  Chatham,  to  show  him  the  petition  of  the  Con- 


136  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

gress.  He  approves  of  it  exceedingly.  His  words 
were  "  the  whole  of  your  countrymen's  conduct  has 
manifested  such  wisdom,  moderation  and  manliness  of 
character,  as  would  have  done  honour  to  Greece  and 
Rome  in  their  best  days."  Laudari  a  laudato  viro, 
should  make  us  cautious  that  we  support  the  character, 
by  a  manly  perseverance,  in  those  measures  which  have 
secured  it.  His  opinion  is,  that  a  solemn  settlement  of 
the  question  by  a  renunciation  of  the  right  to  tax  on  one 
part,  and  an  acknowledgment  of  supremacy  on  the 
other,  might  be  made.  My  object  is  to  unite  the  heads 
of  opposition  upon  one  uniform  large  ground,  which, 
with  the  present  popularity  of  our  cause,  will,  I  think5 
enforce  a  complete  abolition  of  these  pernicious  mea- 
sures. 

I  have  this  moment  learnt  that  the  resolution  of  the 
court,  is,  to  repeal  all  the  acts,  except  the  declaratory 
and  admiralty  act  ;•  that  Lords  North  and  Dartmouth 
are  to  give  place  to  Lords  Gower  and  Hillsborough,  who 
are  to  commence  their  administration  with  these  con- 
ciliatory measures.  The  inconsistency  of  this  plan  is 
no  objection  to  the  probability  of  it,  for  these  men  have 
long  been  disciplined  to  turn,  and  turn,  and  turn  again. 
But  you  may  learn  from  it,  that  there  is  little  cordiality 
in  the  relief  to  be  given,  and  that  we  are  to  hold  a  jealous 
eye  over  the  measures  of  men,  whose  minds  are  actu- 
ated against  us  by  the  bitterest  rancour  and  revenge. 
You  will  consider  this  intelligence  as  of  doubtful  nature, 
and  let  no  hasty  gleam  of  hope  go  forth,  which  may 
tend  to  make  men  remiss  in  their  exertions,  or  relax  in 
the  terms  they  demand. 

Farewell — your  affectionate  brother, 

ARTHUR  LEE. 

To  Col.  RICHABB  HENBY  LEE. 

The  delegates  from  the  several  counties  of  Virginia, 
met  again  in  convention,  on  the  twentieth  March,  1775, 
in  the  town  of  Richmond.  Mr.  Lee  was  returned  as  a 
delegate  from  the  county  of  Westmoreland.  The  first 


OF  RICHARD  HENKY  LEE. 

proceeding  of  the  convention  was  a  resolution  expressing 
the  thanks  of  the  colony  to  the  continental  Congress,  for 
the  wisdom  of  their  measures.  It  was  also  resolved, 
"  That  the  warmest  thanks  of  this  convention,  and  of  all 
the  inhabitants  of  this  colony,  are  due  to  the  worthy  dele- 
gates, who  were  deputed  by  a  former  convention  to  repre- 
sent this  colony  in  the  general  Congress,  for  their  cheer- 
ful undertaking,  and  faithful  discharge,  of  the  very  im- 
portant trust  reposed  in  them." 

Mr.  Lee  had,  at  this  time,  from  his  knowledge  of  the 
British  ministry,  and  from  a  continued  and  profound 
contemplation  of  the  times,  relinquished  all  expectation 
that  any  satisfactory  address  would  be  granted.     His 
private  opinions  were,  that  the  time  was  approaching, 
and  indeed  had  even  now  arrived,  when  any  connexion 
with  Great  Britain,  which  implied  political  dependence, 
must  cease;  but  prudence  taught  him  to  express  them 
with  caution.     He  perceived  this,  not  more  from  the 
spirit  of  the  ministry,  and  the  tendency  of  their  measures, 
than  from  the  growth  of  the  commerce  and  population 
of  the  colonies.     He  had  ceased  to  think  a  connexion 
desirable,  and  seems  to  have  anticipated  the  rapid  and 
splendid  progress  of  America,  in  power  and  in  wisdom, 
when  under  the  fostering  influence  of  republican  go- 
vernment.    To  him,  a  return,  even  to  the  "halcyon 
days"  of  colonial  dependence,  seemed  more  insupport- 
able than  a  struggle  through  war,  when  there  was  a 
probability  that  it  would  terminate  in  the  independence 
of  his  country. 

To  Mr.  Lee,  the  passive  temper  and  policy,  beyond 
which  too  many  seemed  not  yet  to  have  carried  their 
thoughts,  appeared  feeble  and  impolitic.  Happily,  Pro- 
vidence had  raised  up  a  cotemporary  patriot  of  congenial 
spirit,  and  of  genius  equal  to  the  exigency  of  the  times, 
in  Patrick  Henry.  Between  these  two  men,  as  it  has 
been  already  stated,  there  existed  the  warmest  friend- 
ship, and  unity  of  principle,  and  an  exact  coincidence 
of  views.  Like  Valerius  Poplicola  of  ancient  Rome, 
each  of  them  seemed  fitted  by  Heaven,  for  a  period  at 
VOL.  L-— s 


138  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

which  an  oppressed  people  were  to  break  the  bands  of 
despotic  rule,  and  become  free. 

These  gentlemen  consulted  with  each  other  and  de- 
termined to  offer,  in  the  convention,  a  resolution  similar 
to  that  offered  by  Mr.  Lee  in  Congress,  in  October  '74. 
This  was  to  arm  the  militia,  and  put  the  colony  in  a 
state  of  defence.  Mr.  Lee  had  moved  in  Congress,  that 
the  militia  of  the  colonies  should  be  armed.  The  reader 
has  seen  the  modified  shape  in  which  that  body  adopted 
his  resolution.  It  was  agreed  that  Mr.  Henry  should 
move  the  resolution  and  that  Mr.  Lee  should  aid  him  in 
supporting  it.  They  anticipated  and  encountered  violent 
opposition  from  the  older  members  of  the  house.  They 
had  to  rouse  their  indignation  at  the  wrongs  already  en- 
dured by  their  countrymen,  particularly  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  to  awaken  fears  of  their  contemplated  enslavement 
by  Great  Britain,  and,  above  all,  to  convince  them,  that 
in  the  event  of  a  contest,  a  termination  favourable  to  us 
was  not  improbable. 

They  were  both  eminently  qualified  for  this  task. — 
The  bold  and  vehement  eloquence  of  Henry,  excit- 
ed to  the  highest  degree  the  passions  of  his  hearers  ; 
the  fervid,  the  beauteous  and  impressive  declamation  of 
Lee,  presented  liberty  before  their  eyes,  decorated  in 
the  most  lovely  and  ravishiug  charms  ;  while  his  politi- 
cal wisdom  and  information  showed  them  that  the  rich, 
the  exalted  boon  was  not  unattainable.  Men  will  act 
when  the  same  process  which  affects  their  passions,  en- 
lightens and  subdues  their  understandings.  Hence,  on 
this  occasion  the  resolution  was  carried,  though  opposed 
by  members  whose  judgments  ought  to  have  been  ma- 
tured by  age,  and  whose  influence  was  the  effect  and  the 
reward  of  long  public  service.  The  author  is  indebted 
to  the  biographer  of  P.  Henry,  for  the  following  inte- 
resting account  of  the  part  that  Mr.  Lee  took  in  aid  of 
the  resolution,  the  adoption  of  which,  had  a  very  timely 
influence  in  emboldening  the  colonists  to  prepare  for 
resistance.  Chief  Justice  Marshall  furnished  the  author 
of  the  "  life  of  P.  Henry,  with  a  note  in  relation  to  the 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEEv 

debate  on  Mr.  Henry's  motion  :   "  It  is  the  substance, 
(says  that  author)  of  a  statement  made  to  the  chief  jus- 
tice, (then  an  ardent  youth,  feeling  an  enthusiastic  admi- 
ration of  eloquence,  and  panting  for  war,)  by  his  father, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  convention.     Mr.  Marshall 
(the  father,)  after  describing  Mr.  Henry's  speech,  as  be- 
ing one  of  the  most  bold.,  vehement,  and  animated  pieces 
of  eloquence,  that  had  ever  been  delivered  ;  proceeded 
to  state  that  he  was  followed  by  Mr.  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
who  took  an  interesting  view  of  our  real  situation.     He 
stated  the  force  which  Britain  could  probably  bring 
against  us,  and  reviewed  our  own  resources  and  means 
of  resistance.     He  stated  the  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of  both  parties,  and  drew  from  the  statement,  au- 
spicious inferences  ;  but  he  concluded  by  saying,  ''•  that 
admitting  the  probable  calculations  to  be  against  us,  we 
are  assured  in  holy  writ,  that  the  race  is  not  to  the 
swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong  ;  and  if  the  language 
of  genius  may  be  added  to  that  of  inspiration,  I  will  say 
with  our  immortal  bard. 

*  Thrice  is  he  armed,  who  hath  his  quarrel  just, 
And  he  but  naked,  tho*  locked  up  in  steel 
Whose  conscience  with  injustice,  is  oppressed/  " 

Mr.  Henry  and  Mr.  Lee  were  first  named  on  the  com- 
mittee appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  for  arming  the  mili- 
tia, and  putting  the  colony  in  a  state  of  defence. 

Mr.  Lee  was  again  appointed  by  the  convention,  one 
of  the  deputies  to  the  Congress,  which  was  to  meet  at 
Philadelphia  in  May  ;  and  the  convention  having  pro- 
vided for  the  election  of  new  members  of  its  own 
body,  he  was  returned  from  Westmoreland  county. 

The  removal  of  all  the  arms  and  other  military  stores, 
from  the  magazine  at  Williamsburg,  by  order  of  Go- 
vernor Dunmore,  had  occasioned  great  excitement, 
throughout  the  colony  of  Virginia.  During  this  state 
of  feeling,  intelligence  of  the  battles  of  Lexington  and 
Concord  arrived.  These  were  occasioned  by  an  at- 
tempt of  General  Gage  to  secure  the  military  stores  de- 


140  LIFE  ANU  CORRESPONDENCE 

posited  at  the  latter  place.  A  concerted  design  to  dis- 
arm the  colonies  seemed  evident,  and  the  inhabitants 
were  convinced  that  their  subjugation  was  intended.  The 
volunteer,  or  independent  companies,  in  many  parts  of 
Virginia  flew  to  arms.  Those  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
Northern  Neck  of  Virginia,  actually  commenced  their 
march  to  Williamsburgh,  and  to  the  number  of  six  or 
seven  hundred  men,  arrived  at  Fredericksburgh  on  the 
same  day  with  Mr.  Lee,  then  on  his  journey  to  the  con- 
tinental Congress.  A  council  of  war  was  held,  in  which 
lie  was  invited  to  preside.*  But  a  letter  having  been 
received,  stating  that  the  governor  had  assured  the  citi- 
zens of  Williamsburgh,  that  the  powder,  &c.  should  be 
restored,  it  was  determined  that  the  volunteers  should 
return  to  their  homes.  Mr.  Lee  warmly  approved  of 
their  activity  and  decision,  and  exhorted  them,  in  animat- 
ed terms,  to  continue  to  be  ready  to  fight  and  fall  in 
defence  of  their  rights.  They  responded  to  his  harangue, 
and  gave  each  other  a  pledge  to  re-assemble,  and  "  by 
force  of  arms,  to  defend  the  laws,  the  liberties,  and 
rights  of  this,  or  any  sister  colony  from  unjust  and  wick- 
ed invasion." 

The  second  continental  Congress  met  in  Philadel- 
phia, on  Wednesday,  the  10th  May,  1775.  The  aspect 
of  affairs  was  more  gloomy  than  when  that  venerable 
body  had  assembled  in  the  precedent  November.  Among 
the  first  acts  of  this  session,  was  the  following  resolu- 
tion :  "  That  as  the  present  critical  situation  of  these 
colonies  renders  it  highly  necessary,  that  ways  and 
means  should  be  devised  for  the  speedy  and  secure  con- 
veyance of  intelligence  throughout  this  continent,  a 
committee  of  six  be  appointed  to  consider  the  best 
means  of  establishing  posts  for  this  purpose."  Mr.  Lee 
was  one  of  this  committee.! 

*  See  Life  of  Washington  vol.  2.  p.  194. 

t  See  Jour.  109.  The  author  mentions  many  committees  on 
\vhich  Mr.  Lee  acted,  to  show  that  he  \vas  considered  a  man  use- 
ful in  "  the  dry  details  of  business."  His  talents  in  this  way 
bave  been  undervalued}  inched,  denied.  Seepage  108  of  this  work. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

On  the  second  of  June,  a  letter  was  laid  before  Con- 
gress, from  the  provincial  convention  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  which  stated  the  difficulties  under  which  they  la- 
boured for  want  of  a  regular  form  of  government,  and 
requested  Congress  to  favour  them  "  with  explicit  ad- 
vice, respecting  the  taking  up  and  exercising  the  pow- 
ers of  civil  government,  &c."  On  the  third  instant,  the 
foregoing  letter  was  taken  into  consideration;  and  it  was 
Resolved,  "  That  a  committee  of  five  persons  be  chosen, 
to  consider  the  same,  and  to  report  what  in  their  opi- 
nion, is  the  best  advice  to  give  to  that  convention." 
One  of  the  persons  chosen,  was  Mr.  Lee.* 

On  the  same  day  four  committees  were  chosen  to 
draught  papers.  The  committee  whose  business  it  was 
to  draw  up  an  address  to  the  people  of  England,  was 
composed  of  three  members,  viz.  Messrs.  Lee,  R.  R. 
Livingston,  and  Pendleton.f  On  the  tenth  instant,  it 
was  Resolved,  <c  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  several 
conventions  and  committees  of  the  colonies,  to  collect 
all  the  saltpetre,  sulphur,  and  other  munitions  of  war, 
and  to  encourage  the  manufacture  of  saltpetre  and  gun- 
powder." Five  persons  were  chosen  on  the  commit- 
tee appointed,  u  to  devise  ways  and  means  to  introduce 
the  manufacture  of  saltpetre,  into  these  colonies  ;"  one 
of  whom  was  Mr.  Lee.  J 

On  the  fifteenth  instant,  it  was  Resolved,  "  That  a 
general  be  appointed  to  command  all  the  continental 
forces,  to  be  raised  for  the  defence  of  American  liberty." 
George  Washington  was  unanimously  elected.§  On 
the  sixteenth  instant,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
draught  a  commission  and  instructions  for  the  General, 
This  committee  consisted  of  Messrs.  Lee,  E.  Rutledge, 
and  J.  Adams.  On  the  following  day  the  draughts  of 
these  papers  were  reported  and  adopted. ||  The  origi- 
nal draught  of  the  commission  by  which  General  Wash- 

*  Jour  p.  110.     fib.  p.  111.     Jib- p.  116. 
§  R.  H.  Lee  therefore  voted  for  him.     In  the  life  of  Green, 
he  is  stated  to  have  been  unfriendly  to  General  Washington, 
t)  Jour,  p,  121, 


142  L1*'E  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

ington  was  constituted  general  and  commander  in  chief 
of  the  American  armies  of  the  revolution,  with  an  en- 
dorsement of  his  name  on  the  back  of  it,  was  long  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Lee's  family.  On  the  nineteenth 
instant,  it  was  Resolved,  "  That  Messrs.  Lee,  E.  Rut- 
ledge,  and  J.  Adams  be  a  committee,  to  prepare  a  form 
of  a  commission,  for  the  major  arid  brigadier  generals 
and  other  officers  in  the  army."*  On  the  twenty-first. 
General  Washington  addressed  certain  queries  to  Con- 
gress, which  being  read  and  debated,  it  was  .Resolved; 
That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  prepare  pro- 
per answers."  Of  this  committee  Mr.  Lee  was  one.f 
On  the  sixth  of  July,  it  was  Resolved,  *c  That  a  letter 
be  prepared  to  the  lord  mayor,  aldermen,  and  livery  of 
London,  expressing  the  thanks  of  this  Congress,  for 
their  virtuous  and  spirited  opposition  to  the  oppressive 
and  ruinous  system  of  colony  administration  adopted  by 
the  British  ministry."  It  was  ordered  that  the  commit- 
tee appointed  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  people  of 
Great  Britain,  do  prepare  this."J  On  this  day  the  ad- 
dress to  the  people  of  Great  Britain  was  further  con- 
sidered and  adopted. 

It  will  be  recollected,  that  at  this  time  blood  had  been 
shed.  The  "  immedicabile  vulnus"  (as  Lord  Chatham 
predicted  it  would  be)  had  been  inflicted!  It  had  now 
become  obvious,  almost  to  every  one,  that  war  was  inevi- 
table, if  freedom  was  worth  the  dangers  through  which 
alone  it  could  be  obtained  and  secured.  There  were 
few  in  America,  and  probably  none  in  Congress,  who 
made  a  question  on  this  subject.  One  part  of  a  great, 
and  hitherto  a  prosperous  empire,  seemed  now  compelled 
to  separate  from  the  other!  Even  the  firmest  minds 
could  scarcely  bear  the  anticipations  of  the  untried  hor- 
rors of  a  civil  war.  Fellow-citizens,  who  a  few  years 
ago  were  united  by  similar  interests;  who  boasted  of  the 
same  freedom,  and  gloried  in  the  same  fame,  were  shortly 
to  be  arrayed  in  arms  against  each  other.  Fathers,  sons, 

*  Jour.  p.  122.       t  Ib,  p.  124.       J  Ib.  p,  148. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

and  brothers,  were  to  fall,  perhaps,  by  each  other's  hands. 
The  deep  gloom,  the  awful  anxieties  of  such  a  crisis,  can 
be,  in  some  degree,  felt  by  the  reader.  The  dignity  of 
the  reproaches  of  this  last  address  to  the  people  of  Britain ; 
its  bold  and  exalted  sentiments  of  reliance  on  heaven,  and 
the  sword  drawn  in  self-defence;  the  eloquence  of  its 
expostulations;  the  deep  pathos  of  its  parting  warnings, 
do  justice  to  the  occasion,  and  to  those  in  whose  name 
the  draughtsman  wrote!  This  address  is,  indeed,  an 
imperishable  monument  to  the  genius  and  eloquence  of 
Mr.  Lee.* 

{(  The  twelve  united  Colonies,  by  their  Delegates  in  Congress , 
to  the  Inhabitants  of  Great  Britain. 

FRIENDS,  COUNTRYMEN,  AND  BRETHREN! 

By  these,  and  by  every  other  appellation  that  may  de- 
signate the  ties  which  bind  us  to  each  other,  we  entreat 
your  serious  attention  to  this  our  second  attempt  to  pre- 
vent their  dissolution.  Remembrance  of  former  friend- 
ships, pride  in  the  glorious  achievements  of  our  common 
ancestors,  and  affection  for  the  heirs  of  their  virtues, 
have  hitherto  preserved  our  mutual  connexion  ;  but 
when  that  friendship  is  violated  by  the  grossest  injuries; 
when  the  pride  of  ancestry  becomes  our  reproach,  and 
we  are  no  otherwise  allied  than  as  tyrants  and  slaves; 
when  reduced  to  the  melancholy  alternative  of  renounc- 
ing your  favour  or  our  freedom;  can  we  hesitate  about 
the  choice?  Let  the  spirit  of  Britons  determine. 

*  The  family  of  Mr.  Lee  were  long  in  possession  of  his  original 
draught.  The  author  learnt  from  a  son  of  R.  H.  Lee,  from  whom 
he  received  the  manuscripts  of  Mr.  Lee,  that  this  manuscript  had 
been  lost — that  he  had  had  it  in  his  hands  for  many  years — that  it 
was  in  his  father's  hand-writing,  with  an  endorsement,  in  the  same 
writing,  that  it  was  the  original  manuscript  draught  drawn  for 
the  committee.  This  is  the  information  the  author  has  received. 
The  son  of  Mr.  Lee  has  written  on  the  margin  of  the  pages  of  the 
copy  of  the  Journals  from  which  he  copies  the  address,  "  written 
by  R.  H.  Lee— the  original  in  the  possession  of  F.  L.  Lee."  It 
lias  been  seen  that  Mr,  Lee  was  the  chairman  of  the  committee. 


144  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

In  a  former  address  we  asserted  our  rights,  and  stated 
the  injuries  we  had  then  received.  We  hoped  that  the 
men-lion  of  our  wrongs  would  have  roused  that  honest 
indignation  which  has  slept  too  long  for  your  honour,  or 
the  welfare  of  the  empire.  But  we  have  not  been  per- 
mitted to  entertain  this  pleasing  expectation.  Every  day 
brought  an  accumulation  of  injuries,  and  the  invention 
of  the  ministry  has  been  constantly  exercised  in  adding 
to  the  calamities  of  your  American  brethren. 

After  the  most  valuable  right  of  legislation  was  in- 
fringed; when  the  powers  assumed  by  your  Parliament, 
in  which  we  are  not  represented,  and  from  our  local 
and  other  circumstances  cannot  properly  be  represented, 
rendered  our  property  precarious;  after  being  denied  that 
made  of  trial  to  which  we  have  long  been  indebted  for  the 
safety  of  our  persons,  and  the  preservation  of  our  liber- 
ties; after  being  in  many  instances  divested  of  those  laws 
which  were  transmitted  to  us  by  our  common  ancestors, 
and  subjected  to  an  arbitrary  code,  compiled  under  the 
auspices  of  Roman  tyrants;  after  those  charters,  which 
encouraged  our  predecessors  to  brave  death  and  danger 
in  every  shape,  on  unknown  seas,  in  deserts  unexplored, 
amidst  barbarous  and  inhospitable  nations,  were  annulled; 
when,  without  the  form  of  trial,  without  a  public  accusa- 
tion, whole  colonies  were  condemned,  their  trade  de- 
stroyed, their  inhabitants  impoverished;  when  soldiers 
were  encouraged  to  embrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of 
Americans,  by  offers  of  impunity;  when  new  modes  of 
trial  were  instituted  for  the  ruin  of  the  accused,  where 
the  charge  carried  with  it  the  horrors  of  conviction; 
when  a  despotic  government  was  established  in  a  neigh- 
bouring province,  and  its  limits  extended  to  every  of  our 
frontiers;  we  little  imagined  that  any  thing  could  be 
added  to  this  black  catalogue  of  unprovoked  injuries: 
but  we  have  unhappily  been  deceived,  and  the  late  mea- 
sures of  the  British  ministry  fully  convince  us,  that  their 
object  is  the  reduction  of  these  colonies  to  slavery  and 
ruin. 
To  confirm  this  assertion,  let  us  recall  your  attention 


OF  RICHARD  HENKY  LEE, 

lo  the  affairs  of  America,  since  our  las*  address.  Let 
us  combat  the  calumnies  of  our  enemies;  and  let  us 
warn  you  of  the  dangers  that  threaten  you  in  our  de- 
struction. Many  of  your  fellow  subjects,  whose  situa- 
tion deprived  them  of  other  support,  drew  their  mainte- 
nance from  the  sea;  but  the  deprivation  of  our  liberty 
being  insufficient  to  satisfy  the  resentment  of  our  ene- 
mies, the  horrors  of  famine  were  superadded,  and  a 
British  Parliament,  who,  in  better  times,  were  the  pro- 
tectors of  innocence,  and  the  patrons  of  humanity,  have, 
without  distinction  of  age  or  sex,  robbed  thousands  of 
the  food  which  they  were  accustomed  to  draw  from  that 
inexhaustible  source,  placed  in  their  neighbourhood  by 
the  benevolent  Creator. 

Another  act  of  your  legislature  shuts  our  ports,  and 
prohibits  our  trade  with  any  but  those  states  from  whom 
the  great  law  of  self-preservation  renders  it  absolutely 
necessary  we  should  at  present  withhold  our  commerce. 
But  this  act  (whatever  may  have  been  its  design)  we 
consider  rather  as  injurious  to  your  opulence  than  our 
interest.  All  our  commerce  terminates  with  you:  and 
the  wealth  we  procure  from  other  nations,  is  soon  ex- 
changed for  your  superfluities.  Our  remittances  must 
then  cease  with  our  trade;  and  our  refinements  with  our 
affluence.  We  trust,  however,  that  laws  which  deprive 
us  of  every  blessing  but  a  soil  that  teems  with  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  that  liberty  which  renders  the 
enjoyment  of  them  secure,  will  not  relax  our  vigour  in 
their  defence. 

We  might  here  observe  on  the  cruelty  and  inconsis- 
tency of  those,  who,  while  they  publicly  brand  us  with 
reproachful  and  unworthy  epithets,  endeavour  to  deprive 
us  of  the  means  of  defence,  by  their  interposition  with 
foreign  powers,  and  to  deliver  us  to  the  lawless  ravages 
of  a  merciless  soldiery.  But  happily  we  are  not  without 
resoures;  and  though  the  timid  and  humiliating  applica^ 
tions  of  a  British  ministry  should  prevail  with  foreign 
nations,  yet  industry,  prompted  by  necessity,  will  net 
leave  us  without  the  necessary  supplies. 

VOL.  I. — T 


L1FK  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

We  could  wish  to  go  no  further,  and,  not  to  wound 
the  ear  of  humanity,  leave  untold  those  rigorous  acts  ol 
oppression,  which  are  daily  exercised  in  the  town  of 
Boston,  did  we  not  hope,  that  by  disclaiming  their  deeds, 
and  punishing  the  perpetrators,  you  would  shortly  vindi- 
cate the  honour  of  the  British  name,  and  re-establish 
the  violated  laws  of  justice. 

That  once  populous,  flourishing,  and  commercial  town, 
is  now  garrisoned  by  an  army,  sent  not  to  protect,  but 
to  enslave  its  inhabitants.  The  civil  government  is  over- 
turned, and  a  military  despotism  erected  upon  its  ruins. 
Without  law,  without  right,  powers  are  assumed  unknown 
to  the  constitution.  Private  property  is  unjustly  invaded. 
The  inhabitants,  daily  subjected  to  the  licentiousness  of 
the  soldiery,  are  forbid  to  remove,  in  defiance  of  their 
natural  rights,  in  violation  of  the  most  solemn  compacts. 
Or,  if  after  long  and  wearisome  solicitation,  a  pass  is  pro- 
cured, their  effects  are  detained,  and  even  those  who  are 
most  favoured,  have  no  alternative  but  poverty  or  slavery. 
The  distress  of  many  thousand  people,  wantonly  deprived 
of  the  necessaries  of  life,  is  a  subject,  on  which  we 
would  not  \vish  to  enlarge. 

Yet  we  cannot  but  observe,  that  a  British  fleet  (unjus- 
tified even  by  acts  of  your  legislature)  are  daily  employ- 
ed in  ruining  our  commerce,  seizing  our  ships,  and  de- 
priving whole  communities  of  their  daily  bread.  Nor 
will  a  regard  for  your  honour  permit  us  to  be  silent, 
while  British  troops  sully  your  glory,  by  actions,  which  the 
most  inveterate  enmity  will  not  palliate  among  civilized 
nations,  the  wanton  and  unnecessary  destruction  of 
Charlestown,  a  large,  ancient,  and  once  populous  town, 
just  before  deserted  by  its  inhabitants,  who  had  fled  to 
avoid  the  fury  of  your  soldiery. 

If  still  you  retain  those  sentiments  of  compassion  by 
which  Britons  have  ever  been  distinguished;  if  the  hu- 
manity, which  tempered  the  valour  of  our  common  an- 
cestors, has  not  degenerated  into  cruelty,  you  will  lament 
the  miseries  of  their  descendants. 

To  what  are  we  to  attribute  this  treatment?  If  to  any 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEI-:. 

secret  principle  of  the  constitution,  let  it  be  mentioned; 
let  us  learn,  that  the  government  we  have  long  revered 
is  not  without  its  defects,  and  that  while  it  gives  freedom 
to  a  part,  it  necessarily  enslaves  the  remainder  of  the 
empire.  If  such  a  principle  exists,  why  for  ages  has  it 
ceased  to  operate?  Why  at  this  time  is  it  called  into  ac- 
tion? Can  no  reason  be  assigned  for  this  conduct?  Or 
must  it  be  resolved  into  the  wanton  exercise  of  arbitrary 
power?  And  shall  the  descendants  of  Britons  tamely 
submit  to  this — No  Sirs!  We  never  will,  while  we  re- 
vere the  memory  of  our  gallant  and  virtuous  ancestors, 
we  never  can  surrender  those  glorious  privileges,  for 
which  they  fought,  bled,  and  conquered.  Admit  that 
your  fleets  could  destroy  our  towns,  and  ravage  our  sea- 
coasts,;  these  are  inconsiderable  objects,  things  of  no 
moment  to  men  whose  bosoms  glow  with  the  ardor  of 
liberty.  We  can  retire  beyond  the  reach  of  your  navy, 
and,  without  any  sensible  diminution  of  the  necessaries 
of  life,  enjoy  a  luxury,  which  from  that  period  you  will 
want;  the  luxury  of  being  free. 

We  know  the  force  of  your  arms,  and  was  it  called 
forth  in  the  cause  of  justice  and  your  country,  we  might 
dread  the  exertion;  but  will  Britons  fight  under  the  ban- 
ners of  tyranny?  Will  they  counteract  the  labours,  and 
disgrace  the  victories  of  their  ancestors?  Will  they  forgo 
chains  for  their  posterity?  If  they  descend  to  this  un- 
worthy task,  will  their  swords  retain  their  edge,  their 
arms  their  accustomed  vigour?  Britons  can  never  be- 
come the  instruments  of  oppression,  til!  they  lose  the 
spirit  of  freedom,  by  which  alone  they  are  invincible. 

Our  enemies  charge  us  with  sedition.  In  what  does 
it  consist?  In  our  refusal  to  submit  to  unwarrantable 
acts  of  injustice  and  cruelty?  If  so,  show  us  a  period  in 
your  history,  in  which  you  have  not  been  equally  se- 
ditious. 

We  are  accused  of  aiming  at  independence;  but  how 
is  this  accusation  supported?  By  the  allegations  of  your 
ministers,  not  by  our  actions.  Abused,  insulted,  and 
contemned,  what  steps  have  we  pursued  to  obtain  re- 


148  L1FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

dress?  We  have  carried  our  dutiful  petitions  to  the 
throne.  We  have  applied  to  your  justice  for  relief.  We 
have  retrenched  our  luxury,  and  withheld  our  trade. 

The  advantages  of  our  commerce  were  designed  as  a 
compensation  for  your  protection:  When  you  ceased  to 
protect,  for  what  were  we  to  compensate? 

What  has  heen  the  success  of  our  endeavours?  The 
clemency  of  our  sovereign  is  unhappily  diverted;  our 
petitions  are  treated  with  indignity;  our  prayers  answer- 
ed by  insults.  Our  application  to  you  remains  unnoticed, 
and  leaves  us  the  melancholy  apprehension  of  your 
wanting  either  the  will,  or  the  power,  to  assist  us. 

-Even  under  these  circumstances,  what  measures  have 
we  taken  that  betray  a  desire  of  independence?  Have 
we  called  in  the  aid  of  those  foreign  powers,  who  are 
the  rivals  of  your  grandeur?  When  your  troops  were 
lew  and  defenceless,  did  we  take  advantage  of  their  dis- 
tress and  expel  them  our  towns?  Or  have  we  permitted 
them  to  fortify,  to  receive  new  aid,  and  to  acquire  addi- 
tional strength? 

Let  not  your  enemies  and  ours  persuade  you,  that  in 
this  we  were  influenced  by  fear,  or  any  other  unworthy 
motive.  The  lives  of  Britons  are  still  dear  to  us.  They 
are  the  children  of  our  parents,  and  an  uninterrupted 
intercourse  of  mutual  benefits  had  knit  the  bonds  of 
friendship.  When  hostilities  were  commenced,  when 
on  a  late  occasion  we  were  wantonly  attacked  by  your 
troops,  though  we  repelled  their  assaults  and  returned 
their  blows,  yet  we  lamented  the  wounds  they  obliged  us 
to  give;  nor  have  we  yet  learned  to  rejoice  at  a  victory 
over  Englishmen. 

As  we  wish  not  to  colour  our  actions,  or  disguise  our 
thoughts,  we  shall,  in  the  simple  language  of  truth,  avow 
the  measures  we  have  pursued,  the  motives  upon  which 
we  Tiave  acted,  and  our  future  designs. 

When  our  late  petition  to  the  throne  produced  no 
other  effect  than  fresh  injuries,  and  votes  of  your  legis- 
lature, calculated  to  justify  every  severity;  when  your 
fleets  and  your  armies  were  prepared  to  wrest  from  us 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

our  property,  to  rob  us  of  onr  liberties  or  our  lives; 
when  the  hostile  attempts  of  General  Gage  evinced  his 
designs,  we  levied  armies  for  our  security  and  defence. 
When  the  powers  vested  in  the  governor  of  Canada  gave 
us  reason  to  apprehend  danger  from  that  quarter;  and 
we  had  frequent  intimations,  that  a  cruel  and  savage 
enemy  was  to  be  let  loose  upon  the  defenceless  inhabi- 
tants of  our  frontiers;  we  took  such  measures  as  pru- 
dence dictated,  as  necessity  will  justify.     We  possessed 
ourselves  of  Crown-Point  and  Ticonderoga.     Yet  give 
us  leave  most  solemnly  to  assure  you,  that  we  have  not 
yet  lost  sight  of  the  object  we  have  ever  had  in  view,  a 
reconciliation  with  you  on  constitutional  principles,  and 
a  restoration  of  that  friendly  intercourse,  which,  to  the 
advantage  of  both,  we  till  lately  maintained. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  country  apply  themselves 
chiefly  to  agriculture  and  commerce.  As  their  fashions 
and  manners  are  similar  to  yours,  your  markets  must  af- 
ford them  the  conveniences  and  luxuries,  for  which  they 
exchange  the  produce  of  their  labours.  The  wealth  of 
this  extended  continent  centres  with  you;  and  our  trade 
is  so  regulated  as  to  be  subservient  only  to  your  interest. 
You  are  too  reasonable  to  expect,  that  by  taxes  (in  ad- 
dition to  this)  we  should  contribute  to  your  expense;  to 
believe  after  diverting  the  fountain,  that  the  streams  can 
flow  with  unabated  force. 

It  has  been  said,  that  we  refuse  to  submit  to  the  re- 
strictions on  our  commerce.  From  whence  is  this  in- 
ference drawn?  Not  from  our  words,  we  having  repeat- 
edly declared  the  contrary;  and  we  again  profess  our 
submission  to  the  several  acts  of  trade  and  navigation 
passed  before  the  year  1763,  trusting  nevertheless  in  the 
equity  and  justice  of  Parliament,  that  such  of  them  as, 
upon  cool  and  impartial  consideration,  shall  appear  to 
have  imposed  unnecessary  or  grievous  restrictions,  will, 
at  some  happier  period,  be  repealed  or  altered.  And  we 
cheerfully  consent  to  the  operation  of  such  acts  of  the 
British  Parliament  as  shall  be  restrained  to  the  regu- 
lation of  our  external  commerce,  for  the  purpose  of 


1  50  LII;<E  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

securing  (he  commercial  advantages  of  the  whole  empire 
to  the  mother  country,  and  the  commercial  benefits  oi 
its  respective  members;  excluding  every  idea  of  taxation 
internal  or  external,  for  raising  a  revenue  on  the  subjects 
in  America  without  their  consent. 

It  is  alleged  that  we  contribute  nothing  to  the  com- 
mon defence.  To  this  we  answer,  that  the  advantages 
which  Great  Britain  receives  from  the  monopoly  of  our 
trade,  far  exceed  our  proportion  of  the  expense  neces- 
sary for  that  purpose.  But  should  these  advantages  be 
inadequate  thereto,  let  the  restrictions  on  our  trade  be 
removed,  and  we  will  cheerfully  contribute  such  propor- 
tion when  constitutionally  required. 

It  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  British  constitu- 
tion, that  every  man  should  have  at  least  a  representa- 
tive share  in  the  formation  of  those  laws,  by  which  he  is 
bound.  Were  it  otherwise?  the  regulation  of  our  inter- 
nal police  by  a  British  Parliament,  who  are,  and  ever 
will  be,  unacquainted  with  our  local  circumstances,  must 
be  always  inconvenient,  arid  frequently  oppressive,  work- 
ing our  wrong,  without  yielding  any  possible  advantage 
to  you. 

A  plan  of  accommodation  (as  it  has  been  absurdly 
called)  has  been  proposed  by  your  ministers  to  our  re- 
spective Assemblies.  Were  this  proposal  free  from  every 
other  objection,  but  that  which  arises  from  the  time  of 
the  offer,  it  would  not  be  unexceptionable.  Can  men 
deliberate  with  the  bayonet  at  their  breast?  Can  they 
treat  with  freedom,  while  their  towns  are  sacked;  when 
daily  instances  of  injustice  and  oppression,  disturb  the 
slower  operations  of  reason? 

If  this  proposal  is  really  such  as  you  would  offer,  and 
we  accept,  why  was  it  delayed  till  the  nation  was  put  to 
useless  expense,  and  we  were  reduced  to  our  present 
melancholy  situation?  If  it  holds  forth  nothing,  why 
was  it  proposed?  Unless  indeed  to  deceive  you  into 
a  belief,  that  we  were  unwilling  to  listen  to  any  terms  of 
accommodation!  But  what  is  submitted  to  our  conside- 
ration? We  contend  for  the  disposal  of  our  property 
We  are  told  that  our  demand  is  unreasonable,  that  our 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEt,  151 

Assemblies  may  indeed  collect  our  money,  but  that  they 
must  at  the  same  time  offer,  not  what  your  exigencies 
or  ours  may  require,  but  so  much  as  shall  be  deemed 
sufficient  to  satisfy  the  desires  of  a  minister,  and  enable 
him  to  provide  for  favourites  and  dependants.  A  recur- 
rence to  your  own  treasury  will  convince  you  how  little 
of  the  money  already  extorted  from  us,  has  been  applied 
to  the  relief  of  your  burthens.  To  suppose  that  we 
would  thus  grasp  the  shadow,  and  give  up  the  substance, 
is  adding  insult  to  injuries. 

We  have  nevertheless  again  presented  an  humble  and 
dutiful  petition  to  our  sovereign;  and  to  remove  every 
imputation  of  obstinacy,  have  requested  his  majesty  to 
direct  some  mode,  by  which  the  united  applications  of 
his  faithful  colonists  may  be  improved  into  a  happy  and 
permanent  reconciliation.  We  are  willing  to  treat  on 
such  terms  as  can  alone  render  an  accommodation  last- 
ing, and  we  flatter  ourselves  that  our  pacific  endeavours 
will  be  attended  with  a  removal  of  ministerial  troops,  and 
a  repeal  of  those  laws,  of  the  operation  of  which  we  com- 
plain, on  the  one  part,  and  a  disbanding  of  our  army, 
and  a  dissolution  of  our  commercial  associations,  on  the 
other. 

Yet  conclude  not  from  this  that  we  propose  to  surrender 
our  property  into  the  hands  of  your  ministry,  or  vest  your 
Parliament  with  a  power  which  may  terminate  in  our 
destruction.  The  great  bulwarks  of  our  constitution  we 
have  desired  to  maintain  by  every  temperate,  by  every 
peaceable  means;  but  your  ministers  (equal  foes  to  Bri- 
tish and  American  freedom)  have  added  to  their  former 
oppressions  an  attempt  to  reduce  us  by  the  sword  to  a 
base  and  abject  submission.  On  the  sword,  therefore, 
we  are  compelled  to  rely  for  protection.  Should  victory 
declare  in  your  favour,  yet  men  trained  to  arms  from 
their  infancy,  and  animated  by  the  love  of  liberty,  will 
afford  neither  a  cheap  nor  easy  conquest.  Of  this  at  least 
we  are  assured,  that  our  struggle  will  be  glorious,  our 
success  certain;  since  even  in  death  we  shall  find  tba~ 
freedom  which  in  life  you  forbid  us  to  enjoy. 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPl^DENtJE 

Let  us  now  ask  what  advantages  are  to  attend  our  re- 
duction? The  trade  of  a  ruined  and  desolate  country  is 
always  inconsiderable,  its  revenue  trifling;  the  expense 
of  subjecting  and  retaining  it  in  subjection  certain  and 
Inevitable.  What  then  remains  but  the  gratification  of 
an  ill-judged  pride,  or  the  hope  of  rendering  us  subser- 
vient to  designs  on  your  liberty. 

Soldiers  who  have  sheathed  their  swords  in  the  bowels 
of  their  American  brethren,  will  not  draw  them  with 
more  reluctance  against  you.  When  too  late  you  may 
lament  the  loss  of  that  freedom,  which  we  exhort  you, 
while  still  in  your  power,  to  preserve. 

On  the  other  hand,  should  you  prove  unsuccessful; 
should  that  connexion,  which  we  most  ardently  wish  to 
maintain,  be  dissolved;  should  your  ministers  exhaust 
your  treasures,  and  waste  the  blood  of  your  countrymen, 
in  vain  attempts  on  our  liberty;  do  they  not  deliver  you^ 
weak  and  defenceless,  to  your  natural  enemies. 

Since  then  your  liberty  must  be  the  price  of  your  vic- 
tories; your  ruin,  of  your  defeat:— What  blind  fatality 
can  urge  you  to  a  pursuit  destructive  of  all  that  Britons 
hold  dear? 

If  you  have  no  regard  to  the  connexion  that  has  for 
ages  subsisted  between  us;  if  you  have  forgot  the  wounds 
we  have  received  fighting  by  your  side  for  the  extention 
of  the  empire;  if  our  commerce  is  not  an  object  below 
your  consideration;  if  justice  and  humanity  have  lost 
their  influence  on  your  hearts;  still  motives  are  not 
wanting  to  excite  your  indignation  at  the  measures  now 
pursued:  Your  wealth.,  your  honour,  your  liberty  are  at 
stake. 

Notwithstanding  the  distress  to  which  we  are  reduced, 
we  sometimes  forget  our  own  afflictions,  to  anticipate 
and  sympathise  in  yours,  We  grieve  that  rash  and  in- 
considerate councils  should  precipitate  the  destruction 
of  an  empire,  which  has  been  the  envy  and  admiration 
of  ages,  and  call  God  to  witness!  that  we  would  part 
with  our  property,  endanger  our  lives,  and  sacrifice  every 
thing  but  liberty,  to  redeem  you  from  ruin. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEJK. 

A  cloud  hangs  over  your  heads  and  ours;  e'er  this 
reaches  you,  it  may  probably  burst  upon  us;  let  us  then 
(before  the  remembrance  of  former  kindness  is  obliterat- 
ed) once  more  repeat  those  appellations  which  are  ever 
grateful  in  our  ears;  let  us  entreat  heaven  to  avert  our 
ruin,  and  the  destruction  that  threatens  our  friends, 
brethren,  and  countrymen,  on  the  other  side  of  the  At- 
lantic." 

The  foregoing  address  was  ordered  to  be  printed,  and 
transmitted  by  Mr.  Penn  to  England.  The  letter  to  the 
lord  mayor,  aldermen,  and  livery  of  London,  was  read 
and  agreed  to. 

The  remonstrance  of  the  Lord  Mayor,  &c.,  for  which 
the  thanks  of  the  Congress  was  thus  given,  attracted 
great  attention  at  the  time,  for  the  boldness  with  which 
it  espoused  the  doctrines  contended  for  by  the  colonists, 
and  was  much  admired  for  the  elegance  and  the  vigor 
of  its  style.  It  was  written  by  Arthur  Lee,  who  had  now 
become  a  distinguished  advocate  in  London,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  common  hall.  The  letter  of  thanks  to  that 
body,  was  written  by  R.  H.  Lee.  Thus  were  the  two 
brothers,  on  different  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  earnestly 
serving  their  common  country.  On  the  return  of  Mr. 
Arthur  Lee  to  America,  and  after  the  toils  and  dangers 
of  the  revolution  had  ended  in  peace  and  security,  the 
two  brothers  informed  each  other  that  they  had  been  the 
authors  of  these  papers,  and  each  produced  the  original 
in  his  own  hand-writing.  From  these  manuscripts,  the 
author  copies  the  following  elegant  letter  to  the  lord 
mayor. 

"  MY  LORD — Permit  the  delegates  of  the  people  of 
twelve  ancient  colonies  to  pay  your  lordship,  and  the  very 
respectable  body  of  which  you  are  head,  a  just  tribute 
of  gratitude  and  thanks,  for  the  virtuous  and  unsolicited 
resentment  you  have  shown  to  the  violation  of  the  rights 
of  a  free  people.  The  city  of  London,  my  lord,  having, 
in  all  ages,  approved  itself  the  patron  of  liberty,,  and  the 

VOL.  i. — u 


LlvFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

support  of  just  government  against  lawless  tyranny  and 
oppression,  cannot  fail  to  make  us  sensible  of  the  pow- 
erful aid  our  cause  must  receive  from  such  advocates;  a 
cause,  my  lord,  worthy  the  support  of  the  first  city  in  the 
world,  as  it  involves  the  fate  of  a  great  continent,  and  bids 
fair  to  shake  the  foundation  of  a  flourishing,  and,  until 
lately,  a  happy  empire. 

North  America,  my  lord,  wishes  ardently  for  a  lasting 
connexion  with  Great  Britain,  upon  terms  of  just  and 
equal  liberty;  less  than  which  generous  minds  will  not 
offer,  nor  brave  and  free  ones  be  willing  to  receive. 

A  cruel  war  has,  at  length,  been  opened  against  us; 
and  whilst  we  prepare  to  defend  ourselves  like  the  de- 
scendants of  Britons,  we  still  hope  that  the  mediation  of 
wise  and  good  citizens  will  prevail  over  despotism,  and 
restore  harmony  and  peace,  on  permanent  principles,  to 
an  oppressed  and  divided  empire. 

We  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  lord,  with  great  esteem, 
your  lordship's  faithful  friends  and  fellow-citizens." 

The  account  of  the  services  of  Mr.  Lee,  in  the  session 
of  the  Congress  of  "75,  is  here  interrupted  for  a  moment. 
The  reader  has  been  told,  that  Mr.  Lee  was  not  only 
doubtful  of  an  accommodation  between  the  mother  coun- 
try and  the  colonies,  but  that  he  began  to  doubt  whether 
there  were  any  real  benefits  in  a  continuance  of  a  po- 
litical connexion  between  them.  In  the  two  public 
papers  just  read,  a  warm  desire  fora  continuance  of 
the  connexion  is  expressed.  It  will  be  remembered, 
that  as  a  member  of  a  committee,  Mr.  Lee  was  not  at 
liberty  to  express  his  private  opinions.  Few  men  in  the 
colonies,  even  at  this  time,  had  thought  of  independence. 
The  dread  of  the  power  of  England  uniting  with  the 
affection  even  yet  cherished  for  the  parent  state,  opera- 
ted to  repress  that  "  noble  aspiration  after  good/'  which 
expanded  the  bosoms  of  Mr.  Lee,  S.  Adams,  Henry, 
and  a  few  others.  The  sentiments  expressed  in  the 
publications  of  Congress,  at  this  time,  were  those  of  the 
great  majority  of  the  people  and  of  the  Congress.  To 


OP  RICHAKD  HENRY  LEE. 

show  this,  a  letter  will  be  presented  to  the  reader,  from 
u  an  unknown  friend,"  which  had  been  conveyed  to  Mr. 
Lee,  in  such  a  manner,  that  he  never  could  ascertain 
either  the  writer  or  the  "sage/5  whose  councils  are 
thought  so  worthy  of  consideration.  Mr.  Lee's  senti- 
ments seemed  to  have  been  known  to  the  writer,  or  to 
have  been  suspected  by  him;  as  he  treats  the  idea  of 
independence  as  utterly  wild,  while  the  mother  country 
"retained  so  much  power  on  the  ocean."  The  com- 
munication is  really  a  curious  one,  and  throws  light  on 
the  times  in  which  it  was  written. 

"  EASTON,  JUSE  1st,  1775. 

HONOURED  SIR — An  ancient,  and  accounted  a  long 
headed  man,  in  these  parts,  has  dropped  some  hints  de- 
vising a  scheme  of  reconciliation  between  the  mother 
country  and  the  colonies,  which  I  think  worthy  of  con- 
sideration: and  I  am  persuaded  your  zeal  for  a  recon- 
ciliation is  such,  that  you  will  lend  an  ear  to  healing 
propositions,  let  them  come  from  what  quarter  they  may; 
otherwise,  you  would  be  unworthy  of  the  eminence  of 
character  you  possess,  for  republican  candour  of  senti- 
ment. He  observed,  /suppose  the  Congress  were  to 
offer  as  much  to  the  Crown,  as  all  the  duties  amount  to 
by  a  proper  estimate;'  meaning  such  duties  as  we  agree 
they  have  a  right  to  lay:  as  regulations  of  trade,  and  that 
exempt  from  all  impositions  by  the  Crown,  called  run- 
ning— which  might  easily  be  assessed  on  each  province, 
by  having  recourse  to  their  books  of  entry,  and  making, 
at  the  same  time,  an  allowance  for  what  are  run,  which 
is  thought  to  be  as  much  again:  and  besides  this,  to  offer 
a  number  of  forces  well  disciplined,  in  case  of  requisi- 
tion, as  was  the  case  in  the  two  last  wars;  so  many  hun- 
dred or  thousand  from  each  province,  according  to  its  im- 
portance, and  ship,  pay,  and  victual  and  clothe  the  same; 
or  some,  or  all,  as  Congress  judges  best;  and  the  same  to 
continue  for  a  certain  season,  or  during  an  expedition, 
as  was  the  case  in  the  attack  in  the  last  war,  on  Cartha- 
gena  and  Havana.  At  least  the  most  strenuous  endea- 


|56  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

vours  ought  to  be  made,  in  some  way  or  other,  to  effect 
an  accommodation,  considering  what  lamentable  confu- 
sion and  distress  must  attend  the  quarrel,  if  it  continues 
any  length  of  time;  and  the  idea  of  aiming  at  Indepen- 
dence at  present,  affords  the  most  frightful  of  all  pros- 
pects, whilst  the  mother  country  has  such  power  on  the 
ocean. 
Your  unknown  friend  and  humble  servant, 

PHILOPATRIA. 

P.  S.  I  had  like  to  have  forgotten  the  venerable  sage 
would  have  insisted  that  all  the  obnoxious  acts  of  Par- 
liament should  be  repealed  at  the  same  time  that  the 
above  offers  should  be  made;  the  one  to  be  made  the 
inseparable  condition  of  repealing  the  other;  and  in  the 
space  of  ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty  years,  an  additional  quan- 
tity of  troops  and  money  might  be  offered,  in  case  of 
pressing  requisitions  from  home,  according  as  the  colo- 
nies flourish,  and  trade  increases;  but  still  the  mode  of 
raising,  as  well  as  the  quantity,  to  be  wholly  left  in  the 
power  of  the  colonial  assemblies.  And  to  confess  the 
truth,  the  within  letter,  on  account  of  your  reputed  elo- 
quence in  the  Congress,  I  direct  to  you,  as  it  is  the  more 
likely  you  will  thereby  have  more  influence  on  that  august 
assembly;  though  you  are  under  no  obligation,  but  may 
still  pursue  your  own  opinions. v# 

The  petition  to  the  King,  adopted  in  this  session,  ex- 
pressed as  much  loyalty  as  that  adopted  in  the  preceding 
session.  The  reader  cannot  but  be  entertained  by  a 
letter  written  to  Mr.  Lee,  by  General  Charles  Lee,  on 
the  style  of  this  second  petition.  It  exhibits  the  bold- 
ness and  impetuosity  of  the  writer's  character.  The 
loyalty  and  submissive  spirit  of  the  petition  might  have 
had  the  effect  General  Lee  feared;  for  nothing  but  the 
idea  that  the  colonies  were  afraid  to  come  to  an  open 
rupture,  could  so  have  blinded  the  ministry. 

*  Taken  from  the  original  manuscript  letter. 


8F  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 


"CAMP  ON  WINTER  HILL, 

SEPTEMBERS,  1775. 

Mr  DEAR  FRIEND — We  have  just  heard  of  the 
strange  manoeuvre  of  sending  back  the  clothing  which 
was  taken  from  Philadelphia.  I  have  only  time  to  ex- 
press my  astonishment  and  apprehension  that  this  con- 
duct will  betray  some  degree  of  fear,  than  which  nothing 
can  be  more  pernicious  both  here,  and  on  the  other  side 
of  the  water.  Upon  this  principle,  I  must  confess  I 
was  shocked  at  your  last  address  to  the  king — I  am  con- 
fident it  will  do  mischief — It  will  bring  on  a  negotiation, 
which,  perhaps  will  be  fatal.  That  callous  tyrant  must 
have  his  fears  alone  worked  upon.  If  I  did  address  him, 
I  would  do  it  in  the  following  style.  '  Sir,  if  you  do  not 
withdraw  your  troops  upon  the  receipt  of  this,  we  will 
absolve  ourselves  from  all  allegiance  to  you,  and  we  will 
divorce  ourselves  forever  from  Britain,  whose  abject  pa- 
tience in  suffering  such  tyranny  as  that  she  has  experi- 
enced through  your  whole  reign,  renders  her  totally 
unworthy  to  be  the  presiding  power  of  a  great  empire.5 
This  is  the  style  you  should  adopt,  it  is  the  only  style 
which  can  possibly  succeed.  I  rejoice  that  Congress 
has  made  the  acquisition  of  your  brother.  My  love  and 
respects  to  him.  Have  you  received  my  long  scroll? 
For  God's  sake,  let  me  hear  from  you  soon.  God  bless 
you  my  dear  friend,  and  send  the  sommon  cause,  all  the 
success  it  merits  from  a  righteous  Being.  Farewell. 
Tours  most  truly  and  sincerely, 

CHARLES  LEE."* 

On  the  12th  instant,  it  was  resolved,  "that  a  com- 
mittee of  five  be  appointed  to  devise  ways  and  means  to 
protect  the  trade  of  these  colonies,  "f  Mr.  Lee  was  a 
member  of  this  committee.  He  was  also  a  member  of 
a  committee  with  his  much  esteemed  friends  S.  Adams, 

*  From  the  manuscript.  f  See  Jour.  p.  163. 


158  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

and  J.  Rutledge,  whose  business  was  to  revise  the 
Journals,  and  prepare  them  for  the  press.* 

During  the  short  interval  between  the  adjournment  of 
Congress,  which  took  place  on  the  first  day  of  August, 
and  the  meeting  of  that  body  in  September,  of  the  same 
year,  Mr.  Lee  was  in  Virginia,  and  was  actively  engaged 
in  all  the  important  political  transactions  of  that  time. 
He  was  still  a  member  of  the  general  Assembly  of  the 
colony,  and  also,  a  delegate  to  the  convention.  He  at- 
tended at  the  meeting  of  the  first  body,  which  was  called 
together  by  the  proclamation  of  Lord  Dun  more,  to  con- 
sider Lord  North's  'c  conciliatory  proposition/5  and  dur- 
ing this  summer,  served  in  the  convention  which  met  in 
July.  The  business  which  employed  this  session  of  the 
convention,  was  of  great  importance  to  the  colony. 
The  regal  government  was  nearly  dissolved,  and  a  state 
of  anarchy  and  war  was  fast  hastening  on.  The  exter- 
nal and  internal  relations  of  the  colony,  were  involved  in 
danger,  difficulty,  and  darkness.  It  may  here  be  men- 
tioned, that  Mr.  Lee  was  about  this  time  chosen  lieute- 
nant of  the  county  of  Westmoreland;  which  rank,  in 
imitation  of  the  English  lord  lieutenants  of  the  county, 
gave  him  the  command  in  chief  of  all  its  militia.  Hence, 
after  this  period,  he  is  frequently  styled  in  the  Journals 
of  the  Congress,  "  Colonel  Lee."  The  activity  and  effi- 
ciency with  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  this  of- 
fice, will  be  seen  in  another  part  of  this  Memoir. 

On  Wednesday,  the  5th  of  September,  1775,  the  Con- 
gress met,  a  third  time,  in  Philadelphia. 

To  this  second  Continental  Congress,  Mr.  Lee  had 
been  appointed  a  deputy  by  the  convention  of  Virginia, 
in  the  summer  of  '75.  His  labours  and  deliberations 
were  daily  becoming  more  vitally  important  to  America. 
War  had  commenced  its  fearful  career,  and  the  cause  of 
liberty  was  now  committed  to  the  valour  and  fortitude 
of  the  American  people.  The  subjects  which  most  en* 
gaged  the  present  Congress,  were  the  naval  and  military 

*  See  Jour.  p.  177. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  159 

defence  of  the  union,  and  the  pecuniary  means  of  resist- 
ance. These  subjects  required  great  labour  and  wisdom, 
both  in  the  house  and  in  its  committees.  In  the  most 
important  committees,  Mr.  Lee  served  with  unremitted 
industry;  and  the  discussions  of  the  Congress  daily 
added  to  his  reputation  as  a  statesman  and  an  orator. 
On  the  twenty-fifth  instant  the  Congress  took  into  con- 
sideration several  letters  from  General  Washington,  on 
the  military  concerns  of  the  colonies.  It  was  resolved 
a  that  a  committe  of  three  be  appointed  to  prepare  an 
answer."  The  ballots  were  taken,  and  Messrs.  Linch, 
Lee,  and  Adams  were  chosen.* 

On  the  twenty-ninth,  a  letter  from  General  Washing- 
ton, received  by  express,  accompanied  with  several 
papers,  was  laid  before  Congress,  and  read.  It  was  re- 
solved, "that  a  committee  of  three  members  be  appointed 
to  repair  immediately  to  the  camp  at  Cambridge,  to  con- 
fer with  General  Washington,  and  with  the  governors, 
councils,  &c.  of  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  Massachu- 
setts, and  New  Hampshire,  touching  the  most  effectual 
means  of  continuing,  supporting,  and  regulating,  a  con- 
tinental army.  It  was  also  resolved,  that  a  committee 
of  five  members  be  appointed  lu  draw  up  instructions 
for  the  said  committee/'  The  ballots  were  examined, 
and  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  one  of  it.f 

On  the  eighteenth  October,  the  delegates  from  New 
Hampshire,  laid  before  Congress  part  of  their  instruc- 
tions, requesting  them  to  obtain  advice  from  it,  on  the 
best  method  of  administering  justice,  and  regulating  the 
civil  police  of  that  colony.  It  was  resolved,  "that  a 
committee  of  five  members  be  appointed  to  consider  the 
instructions  given  to  the  delegates  from  New  Hampshire, 
and  report  their  opinion  thereon/'  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen 
one  of  this  committee.!  On  the  thirtieth,  four  members 
of  whom  Mr.  Lee  was  one,  were  chosen  "  to  be  added/' 
to  a  former  committee  of  three,  and  these  seven,  to  be 
a  committee  to  carry  into  execution,  as  well  the  resolu 

*  See  Journal,  p.  209.        f  Ibid.  210.        J  Ibid.  225. 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

tions  of  the  thirteenth  instant,  as  those  of  this  day,  for 
fitting  out  armed  vessels.'"* 

The  campaign  to  the  north,  daily  became  more  active, 
and  the  conferences  between  Congress  and  their  com- 
manders became,  therefore,  more  frequent.      General 
Schuyler,  at  this  time,  commanded  a  separate  division  of 
the  army.     On  the  second  of  November  it  was  resolved, 
"  that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed,  to  proceed  to 
the  north,  and  confer  with  General  Schuyler;  and  that 
they  pursue  such  instructions  as  may  be  given  them  in 
charge  by  Congress;  and  that  a  committee  of  five  be 
appointed,  to  prepare  instructions  for  the  said  commit- 
tee."   Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  one  of  the  latter  committee.f 
About  this  time  several  ministerial  proclamations  were 
published,  and  widely  distributed  through  the  colonies. 
They  denounced  Congress  and  all  the  conventions,  com- 
mittees of  correspondence,  &c.  of  the  colonies,  as  trea- 
sonable meetings;  and  threatened  the  utmost  vengeance 
of  civil  and  military  law,  against  all  who  should  aid  in 
carrying  into  execution  any  of  their  measures.      As 
these  proclamations  had  considerable  effect,  in  many 
parts  of  the  country,  Congress  determined  to  notice  them, 
and  accordingly,  on  the  thirteenth  of  November,  it  was 
resolved  "  that  a  committee  be  appointed,  to  prepare  an 
answer  to  sundry  illegal  ministerial  proclamations,  which 
have  lately  appeared  in  America."     Mr.  Lee  was  cho- 
sen chairman  of  this  committee.!     Congress  having  re- 
ceived information  that  certain  frauds  were  attempted 
to  be  practised  in  the  execution  of  continental  contracts, 
it  appointed  a  committee,  on  the  twenty-third  instant, 
"to  inquire  into  the  matter."     On  this  committee  Mr. 
Lee  was  chosen.§ 

On  the  eleventh  of  December,  it  was  Resolved,  "  That 
a  committee  be  appointed  to  devise  ways  and  means  of 
furnishing  the  colonies  with  a  naval  armament,  and  that 
it  consist  of  a  member  from  each  colony."  Mr.  Lee 

*  Journal,  p.  227.        f  Ibid.  p.  230.         J  Ibid.  p.  248, 
$  Ibid,  p.  256. 


OF  RICHARD  HENKY  LEE, 

was  chosen   from  the   deputation  of  Virginia.*    The 
committee  reported  on  the  thirteenth  instant     This  re- 
port having  given  birth  to  the  American  navy,  would  be 
interesting  to  the  reader.     It  may  be  seen  in  page  292 
of  the  Journals,  volume  I.     On  the  fourteenth,  it  was 
Resolved,  "  That  a  committee  consisting  of  a  member 
from  each  colony,  be  appointed  to  carry  into  effect  the 
said  report."     The  ballots  being  counted,  Mr.  Lee  was 
chosen  from  the  Virginia  delegation.!    On  the  sixteenth, 
Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  on  two  committees.     The  duty  of 
one  was  to  confer  with  Major  Preston,  and  fix  upon  an 
agent  to  negotiate  bills,  and  supply  the  prisoners  taken 
at  St.  Johns  ;  the  duty  of  the  other,  was  to  consider 
what  allowance  ought  to  be  made  for  officers,  who  are 
prisoners  of  war.     The  appointment  of  Mr.  Lee,  on 
committees  of  this  nature,  is  mentioned  to  show  in  what 
estimation  his  talents  were  held,  u  in  the  severer  test  of 
intellectual  excellence,  the  dry  details  of  business.";}: 
The  choice  being  by  ballot,  shows  the  sense  entertained 
of  him  as  a  man  of  business,  by  the  body  of  which  he 
was  a  member. 

The  Congress  continued  its  session  without  adjourn- 
ment, into  the  year  1776.§  This  year  was  to  be  the 
period  from  which  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States  should  be  dated.  The  war  was  increasing  in 
violence  and  widely  spreading  its  scenes  of  bloodshed. 
The  business  of  Congress  became  more  laborious,  conti- 
nued and  important.  The  journals  of  its  proceedings  bear 
ample  testimony  to  the  labours  and  services  of  Mr.  Lee. 
Among  the  committees  appointed  upon  subjects  of  the 
first  importance,  and  of  difficult,  practical  business ; 
the  reader  will  perceive  by  a  reference  to  the  journals, 

*  See  Jour.  p.  289.     f  Ib-  p.  292. 

\  Life  of  P.  Henry,  p.   108 

§  See  Jour.  vol.  ii.  p.  4.  From  this  period,  committees  of  mi- 
nor importance  though  embracing  subjects  of  "  dry  details  of 
business,"  will  not  be  mentioned 

VOL.  I. — X 


\Q2  LIFE  AND  COERESFONDENCE 

that  he  served  upon  almost  every  one  which  was  charg- 
ed with  the  military  concerns  of  the  nation. 

On  the  thirtieth  of  January,  1 776,  it  was  Resolved, 
"  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  take  into 
consideration,  an  application  from  the  committee  of 
safety  of  New  York/'  Mr.  Lee  made  one  of  this  com- 
mittee.* On  the  twenty-fifth  of  February,  it  was  Re- 
solved, "  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  con- 
tract for  the  making  of  muskets  and  bayonets  for  the 
use  of  the  army,  and  to  devise  ways  and  means  of  en- 
couraging the  making  of  fire  arms,  in  all  parts  of  the 
continent.  Of  this  committee  Mr.  Lee  was  one.f  On 
the  eleventh  of  March,  he  was  chairman  of  a  commit- 
tee of  three  appointed  to  confer  with  General  Lee,  on 
the  ways  and  means  of  defending  New  York.f  On 
the  nineteenth  of  March,  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  by  bal- 
lot, one  of  the  secret  committee.  On  the  succeeding 
day,  he  was  chosen  one  of  a  committee  of  three  to  whom 
was  referred  the  propriety  of  a  war  office.§ 

On  the  twenty-second  of  April,  sundry  letters  were 
received  and  laid  before  Congress,  viz.  one  from  the 
Canada  commissioners  ;  one  from  General  Washington; 
one  from  General   Schuyler,  enclosing  several  letters 
from  Canada,  &c.     It  was  Resolved,  "  That  these  let- 
ters and  papers  be  referred  to  a  committee  of  five,  of 
which  Mr.  Lee  was  chairman.  ||     On  the  twenty-fifth 
instant,  two  other  letters  were  received  from  General 
Washington,  which  were  referred  to  a  committee  of 
three,  of  which  Mr.  Lee  was  chairman.H    On  the  sixth 
of  May,  the  Congress  sat  in  committee  of  the  whole,  to 
consider  the  state  of  the  united  colonies,  and  reported 
to  the  House  several  resolutions,  one  of  which  was 
"That  ten  millions  of  dollars  be  raised  for  carrying  on 
the  war,  for  the  current  year."   It  was  Resolved,  "  That 
a  committee  of  seven  be  appointed  to  consider  ways  and 
means  for  raising  the  ten  millions.    Mr.  Lee  was  chosen 

«  Jour.  p.  45.      f  Ib.  p,  74.      \  Ib.  p  88.      §  Ib.  p.  97. 
!l  Ib.  p.  143.  fib.  p.  148. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 


163 


one  of  this  committee.*     Several  letters  were  received, 
one  from  General  Washington,  one  from  W.  Palfrey, 
paymaster  general,  &c.  which  on  the  eighth  instant  were 
referred  to  a  committee   of  five,  of  which,   Mr.  Lee 
was  one.f    On  the  tenth  it  was  Resolved,  "  That  it  be 
recommended  to  the  several  Assemblies  and  Conven- 
tions of  the  colonies,  in  which  governments  suited  to 
the  exigency  of  affairs,  have  not  been  established,  to 
adopt  such  forms  of  government,  as  shall  best  conduce 
to  their  safety  and  the  welfare  of  America  in  general. 
A  committee  of  three  was  appointed  "  to  prepare  a  pre- 
amble  to   the   foregoing   resolution/'    The   members 
chosen  were  Messrs.  J.  Adams,  Rutledge,  and  Lee.J 

A  letter  dated   10th  of  May,  from  Major  General 
Charles  Lee,  was  received  and  referred  to  a  committee 
of  five.     To  this  committee  were  also  referred  several 
papers  accompanying  the  said  letter.      Mr.  Lee  was 
chairman  of  this  committee.§  On  the  twenty-first,  several 
papers  were  laid  before  Congress  and  read;  viz: — three 
letters  from  Gen.  Washington  enclosing  letters  and  papers 
of  intelligence  from  England,  and  copies  of  treaties  made 
by  his  Britannic  majesty  with  the  Duke  of  Brunswick 
for  4084  of  his  troops;  with  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse 
Cassel  for  12,000  of  his  troops;  with  the  Count  of  Han- 
nau  for  668  of  his  troops;  a  letter  from  the  paymaster 
general  with  his  account,  &c.  &c.     It  was  resolved,  that 
these  papers  be  referred  to  a  committee  of  five,  who 
should  be  instructed  to  extract  and  publish  the  treaties, 
and  such  parts  of  the  intelligence  as  they  thought  pro- 
per, and  to  consider  a  proper  reward  for  the  person 
bearing  the  intelligence;  and,  "  to  prepare  an  address  to 
the  mercenaries  who  are  coming  to  invade  America." 
Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  one  of  this  committee.  || 

On  the  twenty-third  instant,  it  was  resolved,  that  a 
committee  of  five  be  appointed  "  to  confer  with  Gene- 
ral Washington,  Generals  Gates  and  Mifflin,  upon  the 

*  See  Jour,  p,  160,  f  Ib.  p.  162.  $  Ib.  p.  166, 

§  Ib  p.  176.  ||  Ib.  p.  179. 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

most  speedy  ^nd  effectual  means  of  supporting  the  Ame- 
rican cause  in  Canada."  Mr.  Lee  was  one  of  this 
committee.*  On  the  twenty-fifth,  General  Washington 
attended  by  order  of  Congress,  and  after  some  confer- 
ence with  him,  it  was  Resolved,  "  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  confer  with  General  Washington,  Major 
General  Gates,  and  Brigadier  General  Mifflin,  and  to 
concert  with  them  a  plan  of  military  operations  for  the 
ensuing  campaign/3  Of  this  committee,  Mr.  Lee  was 
one.f 

*  See  Jour.  p.  186.  f  W.  p.  190. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  period  was  now  approaching,  when  the  conti- 
nental Congress  were  about  to  take  the  decisive  step,  of 
dissolving  the  union  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
colonies.  This  measure  was  not  the  act  of  ambitious 
men,  who  sought  their  own  aggrandizement,  regardless 
of  the  welfare  of  their  country.  It  was  the  act  of  the 
most  virtuous  set  of  men  with  which  history  makes  us 
acquainted.  It  was  the  measure  of  wise  patriots,  who, 
in  common  with  their  countrymen,  felt  the  burden  of 
oppression,  and  appreciated  freedom,  as  the  source  of  all 
private  safety,  and  public  happiness. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  dispute  between  the 
colonies  and  the  mother  country,  the  former  claimed 
only  those  fundamental  rights,  which  the  British  consti- 
tution guaranteed  to  all  the  subjects  of  the  crown  of 
England,  and  which  had  been  productive  of  the  happiest 
effects,  as  was  evident,  from  their  unexampled  growth 
and  prosperity.  The  inhabitants,  descendants  of  Eng- 
lishmen, had,  for  centuries,  felt  a  common  interest  in  the 
prosperity  of  the  parent  country;  and  had  been  taught, 
both  by  precept  and  experience,  to  consider  the  British 
constitution  as  the  happiest,  because  the  most  effectual 
safeguard  of  human  rights. 

It  was  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  the  people  of  the 
colonies  should  so  long  have  endured  insult  and  injury; 
should  so  long  have  spoken  the  language,  only  of  suppli- 
cation and  remonstrance.  It  is  not  wonderful  that  the 
wealth,  the  naval  power,  and  military  prowess  of  Great 
Britain,  should  so  long  have  repressed  the  faintest  idea 
of  separation  and  independence. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1776,  a  large  portion  of 
the  people  of  the  colonies,  still  asked  for  nothing  more 


1(36  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

than  a  redress  of  grievances.  A  considerable  number  still 
considered  those  grievances  the  effect  of  unconstitutional 
proceedings,  and  unwarrantable  demands.  Many  of  the 
most  judicious  and  able  citizens,  friends  of  the  colonies, 
had  not  yet  aspired  to  independence — they  would  have 
dreaded  the  horrors  of  civil  war,  and  would  have  de- 
spaired of  success,  had  the  noble  aspiration  ever  lifted 
up  their  minds. 

The  following  letter  of  General  Charles  Lee,  refers 
to  the  spirit  predominating  at  this  time. 

"  WILLIAMSBURG,  MAY  10th,  1776. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND — Your  brother  and  I  think,  from 
the  language  of  your  letters,  that  the  pulse  of  the  Con- 
gress is  low,  and  that  you  yourself,  with  all  your  vigour, 
are  by  collision,  somewhat  more  contracted  in  your  hopes 
than  we  wished  to  have  found.  If  you  do  not  declare 
immediately  for  positive  independence,  we  are  all  ruined. 
There  is  a  poorness  of  spirit  and  languor  in  the  late 
proceedings  of  Congress,  that  I  confess  frightens  me  so 
much,  that  at  times,  I  regret  having  embarked  my  all, 
my  fortune,  life,  and  reputation,  in  their  bottom.  I  some- 
times wish  that  I  had  settled  in  some  country  of  slaves, 
where  the  most  lenient  master  governs.  However,  let 
the  fate  of  my  property  be  what  it  will,  I  hope  I  shall 
preserve  my  reputation,  and  resign  my  breath  with  a 
tolerable  degree  of  grace. 

God  bless  you — I  cannot  write  more  at  present. — 
f  Ah  Cassius,  I  am  sick  of  many  griefs/ 

Yours,  most  entirely, 

CHARLES  LEE. 

Hon.  RICHAJID  HBWHT  LEE." 

There  were,  however,  many  enlightened  men,  who 
had  long  foreseen  the  ultimate  effects  of  ministerial 
measures.  They  had  never  hoped,  for  to  them,  no 
ground  of  hope  appeared,  that  supplication  or  meek  re- 
monstrance would  arrest  the  course,  or  alter  the  system 
of  colonial  administration.  They  early  predicted)  that 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 


167 


submission  or  resistance  would  be  the  fate,  or  the  choice 
of  the  colonies.  Believing  that  the  course  of  things 
tended  to  this  end,  they  had  secretly  indulged  their  love 
of  liberty,  in  visions  of  free  and  confederated  republics; 
and  growing  indignant  at  the  wrongs  heaped  upon  them- 
selves and  their  countrymen,  they  had  boldly  reasoned 
with  themselves,  of  "  unalienable  rights,  and  of  national 
independence/'  The  reader  will  have  already  distin- 
guished Mr.  Lee,  as  a  leader  of  this  class  of  men.  He 
will  remember,  that  upon  the  first  intelligence  of  the  de- 
claratory act  in  '64,  he  had  warned  an  English  corres- 
pondent and  politician,  to  consider,  <c  that  possibly  this 
step  (the  declaratory  act)  of  the  mother  country,  though 
intended  to  oppress,  and  keep  us  low,  in  order  to  secure 
our  dependence,  may  be  subversive  of  that  end.  That 
poverty  and  oppression  among  those  whose  minds  are 
filled  with  British  liberty,  may  introduce  a  virtuous  in- 
dustry, with  a  train  of  manly  and  generous  sentiments, 
which,  when  in  future,  they  become  supported  by  num- 
bers, may  produce  a  fatal  resentment  of  parental  care 
being  converted  into  tyrannical  oppression."  He  will 
recollect  the  opinions  held  by  Mr.  Lee,  the  language 
used,  and  the  conduct  pursued,  from  the  very  commence- 
ment of  the  troubles  in  America,  up  to  this  period.  He 
will  particularly  recollect,  the  motion  made  by  him,  early 
in  the  first  session  of  the  continental  Congress,  "  to  am* 
the  militia  of  the  colonies;"  his  support  of  a  motion 
made  subsequently,  in  the  Assembly  of  Virginia,  by 
Patrick  Henry,  to  arm  the  militia  of  that  colony;  and 
his  opinion,  that  the  colonies  could  successfully  maintain 
a  contest  with  Great  Britain.  The  reader  must  per- 
ceive a  bolder  tone  of  indignation  against  the  English 
government  pervading  the  speeches,  and  the  writings  of 
Mr.  Lee,  than  was  consistent  with  the  views  of  one,  who 
sought  redress  of  grievances  merely.  He  will  recollect, 
that  General  Gadsden  of  South  Carolina,  has  said,  that 
during  the  existence  of  the  stamp  act,  Mr.  Lee  had 
invited  him  to  become  a  member  of  a  corresponding 
association,  which  was  to  suggest  the  idea  of  indepen- 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

dence,  as  the  discontents  of  the  people  should  become 
louder  and  stronger,  against  the  unconstitutional  admi- 
nistration of  the  English  government. 

For  the  last  two  years,  Mr.  Lee  had  been  an  avowed 
advocate  for  independence,  and  spoke  with  great  confi- 
dence of  the  event  of  a  contest.  His  speeches  in  the 
Assembly,  and  to  the  people  of  Westmoreland;  his  con- 
versation among  all  classes  of  people  in  Virginia;  his 
opinions  strongly  and  eloquently  enforced  in  his  inter- 
course with  the  public  men  of  that  state,  all  conspired 
to  prepare,  and  at  length  to  determine  his  countrymen 
of  Virginia,  to  declare  that  colony  free  and  independent 
On  the  17th  of  May,  1776,  the  convention  which  had 
assembled  on  the  sixth  instant,  unanimously  resolved, 
"that  the  delegates  appointed  to  represent  this  colony 
in  the  general  Congress,  be  instructed  to  propose  to  that 
respectable  body,  to  declare  the  united  colonies  free 
and  independent  states,  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to, 
or  dependence  upon,  the  crown  or  Parliament  of  Great 
Britain;  and  to  support  whatever  measures  may  be 
thought  proper  and  necessary  by  the  Congress  for  form- 
ing foreign  alliances,  and  a  confederation  of  the  colo- 
nies, at  such  time  and  in  such  manner,  as  to  them  may 
seem  best — provided,  that  the  power  of  forming  govern- 
ments for,  and  the  regulations  of  the  internal  concerns 
of  each  colony,  be  left  to  the  respective  colonial  legisla- 
tures." The  convention  proceeded  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  regular  independent  government. 

The  continental  Congress  being  the  point  of  union, 
and  the  organ  of  efficient  opposition,  attracted  the  anxi- 
ous attention  of  the  ministry.  They  watched  that  body 
with  earnest  attention,  and  in  terms  of  haughty  ven- 
geance, denounced  its  proceedings.  They  considered  it 
the  focus,  to  which  all  the  heat  and  temerity  of  rebellion 
tended,  and  from  which,  they  were  reflected  with  ten- 
fold intensity  and  power.  The  proceedings  of  the  co- 
lonial Assemblies  and  conventions,  had  ceased  to  occupy 
their  thoughts  since  the  Congress  multiplied  all  their 
apprehensions.  The  raising  of  an  army,  and  the  ap~ 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

jpointment  of  a  commander-in-chief  with  every  military 
power,  had  appeared  but  as  the  presumption  of  ill-ad- 
vised and  deluded  rebels,  who  yet  might  be  alarmed,  or 
soothed  into  submission.  But  neither  the  ministry  nor 
the  people  of  Great  Britain,  had  ever  entertained  the 
apprehension,  that  the  colonies  would  dare  to  aspire  to 
independence.  It  was  to  be  expected,  therefore,  that  a 
declaration  of  independence  would  excite  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  latter,  and  the  fiercest  indignation  of  the 
former.  It  was  then  not  without  reason  apprehended, 
that  the  person  who  should  propose,  that  the  colonies  be 
declared  independent,  w^ould  be  marked  out  as  that  dar- 
ing rebel,  whose  spirit  should  be  quenched,  and  whose 
condign  punishment  should  be  made  a  terrible  warning. 

Amidst  the  hesitation  of  some  colonies,  the  foreseen, 
opposition  of  many  able  men  of  the  Congress,  the  ma- 
lice of  the  tories,  the  perils  of  war  with  its  unknown 
issues,  and  the  vengeance  of  the  ministry,  Richard 
Henry  Lee  moved  the  resolution,  (in  these  his  own 
words,)  "  That  these  united  colonies  are,  and  of  right, 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  states;  and  that  all 
political  connexion  between  them  and  the  state  of  Great 
Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved."* 

It  has  been  seen,  that  the  convention  of  Virginia  had 
instructed  her  delegates  in  Congress,  to  propose  to  that 
body,  to  declare  the  colonies  independent.  As  soon  as 
the  instructions  arrived,  theyf  appointed  Mr.  Lee  to 
move  a  resolution  conformably  to  it.  The  opinions  and 
wishes  of  Mr.  Lee,  were  well  known  to  them,  the  bold- 
ness and  decision  of  his  character  were  suited  to  the 
crisis.  His  eloquence  and  political  information  peculi- 
arly fitted  him  for  the  discussions,  which,  it  was  antici- 
pated, would  follow  the  motion. 

That  it  was  the  opinion  of  Congress,  that  the  member 
who  made  the  first  motion  on  the  subject  of  independ- 


*  See  Journal,  p.  204. 

t  Mr.  Wythe  was  at  the  head  of  the  Virginia  delegation,  his 
name  standing  first  on  the  list  of  deputies. 
VOL.  I, — Y 


£70  L1FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

ence,  would  certainly  be  exposed  to  personal  and  immi- 
nent danger,  may  be  inferred  from  the  manner  in  which 
that  motion  is  entered  on  the  Journal.  In  the  Journal  of 
Friday,  June  the  seventh,  it  is  thus  stated,  "  certain  reso- 
lutions respecting  independence  being  moved  and  second- 
ed, Resolved,  that  the  consideration  of  them,  be  deferred 
until  to-morrow  morning;  and  that  the  members  be  en- 
joined to  attend  punctually  at  ten  o'clock,  in  order  to 
take  the  same  into  their  consideration/'  The  reader 
will  see,  that  neither  the  name  of  him  who  moved  the 
resolutions,  nor  of  him  who  seconded  them,  is  mention- 
ed. Richard  Henry  Lee  moved,  and  John  Adams  se- 
conded them.*  The  long  debates  which  followed,  (froit) 
the  seventh  of  June,  to  the  fourth  of  July,)  show  that 
the  measure  proposed  by  the  resolution,  was  considered 
one  of  fearful  hazard,  and  awful  responsibility. 

On  the  eighth,  the  Congress  resolved  itself  into  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole,  to  take  into  consideration  the  reso- 
lutions respecting  independence;  and,  after  some  time, 
the  president  resumed  the  chair,  and  Mr.  Harrison  re- 
ported, that  "  the  committee  having  taken  into  consider- 
ation the  matter  to  them  referred,  but  not  having  come 
to  any  resolutions,  they  directed  him  to  move  for  leave 
to  sit  again  on  Monday."  It  was  also  resolved,  "  that 
the  Congress  will,  on  Monday  next,  at  ten  o'clock,  re- 
solve themselves  into  a  committee  of  the  whole,  to  take 
into  further  consideration  the  resolutions  referred  to 
them." 

On  Monday,  Jane  tenth,  the  order  of  the  day  being 
before  the  house,  the  Congress  resolved  itself  into  a 
committee  of  the  whole,  "  to  take  into  further  consider- 
ation the  resolution  to  them  referred."  After  several 
hours  had  been  spent  in  debate,  the  president  resumed 
the  chair,  and  the  chairman  of  the  committee  reported 
a  resolution  thereon.  The  resolution  agreed  to,  in  the 

*  See  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  and  Ottis'  Ed.  o£  the 
Chevalier  JJotta's  History  of  the  American  Revolution. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

committee  of  the  whole  Congress,  being  read,  it  was  re- 
solved,  "  That  the  consideration  of  the  first  resolution 
be  postponed  to  the  first  Monday  in  July  next,  and  in 
the  meanwhile,  that  no  time  be  lost,  in  case  the  Congress 
agree  thereto,  a  committee  be  appointed  to  prepare  a 
declaration,  to  the  effect  of  the  first  resolution,  which  is 
in  these  words,  to  wit:  "That  these  united  colonies  are, 
and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  states; 
that,  they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British 
crown;  and  that  all  political  connexion  between  them  and 
the  state  of  Great  Britain,  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally 
dissolved/'* 

It  has  already  been  seen  by  the  reader,  that  the  dis- 
cussion upon  Mr.  Lee's  motion  for  independence,  con- 
tinued from  the  seventh  of  June  until  the  tenth,  and  that 
the  deliberation  of  Congress  on  that  day,  ended  in  the 
adoption  of  a  resolution,  to  appoint  a  committee  to  pre- 
pare a  declaration.  He  will  perceive,  from  the  language 
of  the  resolution  adopted  on  the  tenth  instant,  that  it  was 
yet  doubtful  whether  the  resolution  moved  by  Mr.  Lee 
would  be  finally  agreed  to.  The  declaration  was  to  be 
prepared,  "  that  no  time  should  be  lost,  in  case  the  Con- 
gress might  agree  to  adopt  one/'  The  resolution  was 
opposed,  so  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to  ascertain, 
(from  conversation  with  the  late  Governor  Johnson,  of 
Maryland,  a  member  at  the  time  of  the  discussion,)  by 
no  one,  as  impolitic  and  improper  at  all  times,  but  as 
imprudent  at  that  time.  Some  of  the  arguments  against 
its  present  adoption  were,  the  want  of  money;  munitions 
of  war;  of  disciplined  and  efficient  armies;  on  the  part 
of  the  colonies,  the  seeming  tardiness  of  several  colonies 
in  declaring  their  wishes  on  the  subject;  the  power  and 
strength  of  Britain,  by  sea  and  land;  and  the  yet  unknown 
course  of  foreign  governments,  during  the  contest  which 
would  follow.  Many  able  and  virtuous  patriots  urged 
these,  and  similar  topics,  with  great  force.  The  leading 
advocate  of  immediate  adoption,  was  R.  tt.  Lee,  Tra 

*  .See  p.  206,  of  Journal. 


J72  LIFE  ^ND  CORRESPONDENCE 

dition  (for  we  have  no  written  history  of  this  great  and 
interesting  debate)  still  relates,  that  he  prefaced  his  mo- 
tion with  a  speech,  which  was  the  effort  of  a  mind  of 
transcendent  powers.  He  reviewed,  in  accurate  and 
luminous  detail,  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  and  the  viola- 
tions of  these  rights  by  the  mother  country.  He  stated 
the  resources  of  the  colonies,  and  the  advantages  they 
would  derive  from  union  amongst  themselves;  the  extent 
of  their  territory,  and  its  capacity  of  defence,  with  a 
fulness  of  knowledge  which  was  at  once  striking  and 
wonderful  He  dwelt  upon  the  probable  conduct  of  the 
continental  powers,  especially  of  France  and  Spain,  with 
almost  prophetic  foresight,  and  demonstrated,  with  the 
skill  and  ability  of  a  profound  statesman*  their  policy  in 
the  event  of  a  separation  from  Great  Britain.  He  con- 
tinued, during  the  debate,  from  the  seventh  to  the  tenth, 
to  urge  every  topic,  which  his  acute  and  well-stored  mind 
could  conceive,  in  support  of  his  motion.  He  addressed, 
in  splendid  and  persuasive  eloquence,  every  patriotic  and 
noble  passion  which  could  be  felt  by  freemen;  and  in 
rich  declamation,  adorned  by  the  finest  allusions  of 
classic  story,  portrayed  the  beauties  of  liberty,  with  her 
train  of  blessings,  law,  science,  and  glory.  Memory  has 
preserved  a  faint  outline  of  his  first  speech,  and  pro- 
nounces the  following,  as  the  concluding  sentences,  with 
which  he  introduced  his  memorable  motion:  "  Why  then, 
sir,  do  we  longer  delay?  Why  still  deliberate?  Let  this 
happy  day  give  birth  to  an  American  republic!  Let  her 
arise,  not  to  devastate  and  conquer,  but  to  re-establish 
the  reign  of  peace  and  of  law.  The  eyes  of  Europe  are 
fixed  upon  us;  she  demands  of  us  a  living  example  of 
freedom,  that  may  exhibit  a  contrast,  in  the  felicity  of 
the  citizen,  to  the  ever  increasing  tyranny  which  deso- 
lates her  polluted  shores.  She  invites  us  to  prepare  an 
asylum,  where  the  unhappy  may  find  solace,  and  the  per- 
secuted repose.  She  intreats  us  to  cultivate  a  propitious 
soil,  where  that  generous  plant,  which  first  sprung  and 
grew  in  England,  but  is  now  withered  by  the  poisonous 


OF  RICHAHD  HENRY  LEE.  J73 

blasts  of  Scottish*  tyranny,  may  revive  and  flourish,  shel- 
tering under  ite  salubrious  and  interminable  shade,  all  the 
unfortunate  of  the  human  race.  If  we  are  not  this  day 
wanting  in  our  duty  to  our  country,  the  names  of  the 
American  legislators  of  '76,  will  be  placed  by  posterity 
at  the  side  of  those  of  Theseus,  of  Lycurgus,  of  Romu- 
lus, of  Numa,  of  the  three  Williams  of  Nassau,  and  of 
all  those  whose  memory  has  been,  and  for  ever  will  be, 
dear  to  virtuous  men  and  good  citizens." 

On  the  evening  of  the  tenth,  Mr.  Lee  received,  by 
express  from  Virginia,  the  distressing  intelligence  that 
his  lady  was  dangerously  ill.  This  circumstance  com- 
pelled him  to  ask  leave  of  absence  for  a  short  time. 
He  left  Philadelphia  on  the  eleventh  instant;  and  on  that 
day  a  committee  of  five  members  were  chosen  to 
draught  a  declaration  of  independence.  The  members 
were  Messrs.  Jefferson,  J.  Adams,  Franklin,  Sherman, 
and  R.  R.  Livingston.  The  absence  of  Mr.  Lee  alone 
deprived  him  of  the  honour  of  being  chairman  of  the 
committee  to  draw  a  declaration  of  independence,  ac- 
cording to  the  uniform  rule  in  all  deliberative  bodies, 
to  appoint  that  member  chairman  of  the  committee, 
which  is  selected  to  report  on  any  motion  which  he  has 
made,  and  which  has  been  adopted. 

Mr.  Jefferson  having  been  appointed  chairman  of  the 
above-mentioned  committee,  it  was  assigned  to  him  to 
prepare  a  draught  of  the  declaration,  to  be  reported  to 
Congress,  On  the  first  of  July,  according  to  the  reso- 
lution of  the  tenth  ultimo,  the  order  of  the  day  was  read; 
when  it  was  resolved,  "that  this  Congress  will  resolve 
itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole,  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  resolution  respecting  independence;  and 
that  the  declaration  be  referred  to  the  said  committee/' 
After  some  time  spent  in  debate,  the  president  resumed 
the  chair,  and  Mr.  Harrison  reported,  that  the  commit- 

*  The  Scotch  were  extremely  unpopular  in  the  American  colo- 
nies, during  the  revolution,  in  consequence  of  the  fact  that  Lord 
Bute,  Lord  Mansfield,  &c.  \vcre  advocates  of  the  right  to  tax 
America. 


]74  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

tee  had  come  to  a  resolution,  which  they  desired  him  to 
report,  and  to  ask  leave  to  sit  again.  The  resolution 
agreed  to,  by  the  committee  of  the  whole,  being  read. 
"  the  determination  thereof  was,  at  the  request  of  a  colo- 
ny, postponed  until  to-morrow/3  The  Congress  on  this 
day  finally  resolved,  that  it  would  sit  in  committee  of  the 
whole  to-morrow,  "  to  take  into  consideration  the  decla- 
ration respecting  independence."  On  the  second  of 
July  the  Congress  resumed  the  consideration  of  the 
resolution  reported  from  the  committee  of  the  whole, 
which  was  agreed  to  as  follows:  "Resolved,  that  these 
colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  indepen- 
dent states;  that  they  are  absolved  from  all  political  alle- 
giance to  the  British  crown,  and  that  all  political  con- 
nexion between  them  and  the  state  of  Great  Britain,  is 
and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved."  It  was  thereupon 
resolved,  "that  the  Congress  will  again  to-morrow  re- 
solve itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole,  to  take  into 
further  consideration  the  declaration  respecting  inde- 
pendence." On  the  third,  agreeably  to  the  order  of  the 
day,  the  Congress  in  committee  of  the  whole  house, 
took  into  further  consideration  the  declaration  reported 
by  the  chairman  of  the  committee  for  that  purpose;  but 
not  having  finished  their  deliberations  on  that  day,  "  they 
desired  leave  to  sit  again."  It  was  accordingly  resolved, 
that  the  Congress  would  on  to-morrow  again  sit  in  com- 
mittee of  the  whole,  to  take  into  further  consideration, 
the  declaration  to  them  referred.  On  the  fourth  of 
July,  agreeably  to  the  order  of  the  day,  the  Congress 
in  committee  of  the  whole,  took  into  their  further  con- 
sideration the  declaration;  and  after  some  time,  the  pre- 
sident having  resumed  the  chair,  Mr.  Harrison  reported, 
that  the  committee  had  agreed  to  a  declaration,  which 
they  desired  him  to  report.  The  declaration  being  read, 
was  agreed  to.  Here  follows,  in  the  Journal,  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  so  long  and  so  much  admired 
for  its  chaste,  dignified,  and  eloquent  style;  the  princi- 
ples of  which  are  still  (and  it  is  hoped  will  be  for  ages 
to  come,)  ardently  cherished. 


OF  KICHAUB  HENRY  LEE. 

The  original  draught  then  of  the  Declaration,  as  writ- 
ten by  Mr.  Jefferson,  was  debated  for  several  days,  pa- 
ragraph by  paragraph;  the  Congress  amending,  adding, 
or  striking  out  from  it,  words,  sentences,  or  paragraphs. 
Thus  was  this  celebrated  paper  adopted  and  published! 
It  marks  the  commencement  of  one  of  the  most  signal 
eras,  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  world!  Its  publica- 
tion inspired  with  the  liveliest  joy  and  hope,  the  breast 
of  the  illustrious  patriot  who  moved,  and  so  strenuously, 
and  ably,  and  hazardously,  advocated  the  immediate 
adoption  of  the  resolution  on  which  it  is  founded.  With 
him  his  virtuous  compeers  joyed  and  hoped.  "Joy  ele- 
vated, hope  brightened  their  crests."  May  their  decend- 
ants,  under  the  providence  of  that  Lord  God  Almighty, 
who  gave  them  victory,  long  protect  the  noble  fabric 
which  has  been  erected  on  an  immutable  basis;  the  na- 
tural freedom  and  equality  of  all  men  ! ! 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  Mr.  Lee  had  been  called 
to  Virginia,  on  the.  eleventh  of  June.  He  remained 
some  time  absent  from  Congress.  Shortly  after  the 
adoption  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson wrote  to  him,  enclosing  the  original  draught, 
which  he  had  drawn  in  the  committe,  and  also  a  copy  of 
the  declaration  as  adopted  by  Congress.  The  original 
was  carefully  preserved  by  Mr.  Lee;  not  only  for  the 
interest  he  felt  in  its  history,  but  for  the  great  respect 
and  warm  friendship  he  felt  for  Mr.  Jefferson.  It  has 
been  as  carefully  preserved  by  his  family,  and  finally 
committed  to  the  author.* 

Whatever  may  be  the  literary  merit  of  the  original 
draught,  candour  will  admit  that  it  was  improved  by  the 
alterations  suggested  in  Congress.  Candour  will  admit 
with  equal  promptness,  that  all  of  the  finest  passages  of 

*  A  copy  of  the  letter,  and  of  the  draught,  is  given  in  appen- 
dix number  five.  The  endorsement  on  it  which  is  in  these  words 
*'  The  Declaration  of  Independence  as  originally  reported  to  Con- 
gress," is  the  autograph  of  Mr  Lee,  as  also  the  endorsement 
on  the  accompanying  letter,  "letter  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  Esq, 
July  eighth,  1776." 


1  70  UFE  ANI)  CORRESPONDENCE 

the  Declaration,  as  it  was  finally  adopted,  are  the  pro- 

duction of  Mr.  Jefferson  ;  and  that  one  paragraph,  ai 

least,  in  the  original   draught,  which  was  struck  out 

from  the  copy  agreed  to  by  Congress,  might  have  been 

retained.     The  paragraph  beginning  with  these  words 

"  he  has  waged  a  cruel  war,  &c."  contains  some  fine 

and  energetic  sentences.     It  is  worthy  of  remark,  espe- 

cially at  the  present  day,  when  by  a  resolution  of  the 

Congress  of  the  United  States,  the  slave  trade  has  been 

declared  to  be  piracy,  and  by  the  same  resolution  the 

maritime  nations  of  Europe  and  America,  are  invited  to 

consent  that  it  shall  henceforth  be  so  considered  by  the 

law  of  nations,  that  Mr.  Jefferson  was  the  first  Ameri- 

can statesman,  and  probably  the  first  writer  of  modern 

times,  who  denounces  that  infamous  traffic  as  a  "  pira- 

tical warfare/'*     The  only  reason,  which  appears  fully 

to  account  for  the  rejection  of  this  eloquent  passage  of 

the  original  draught,  is,  that  as  Congress  was  enume- 

rating those  acts  of  aggression  upon  the  rights  of  the 

colonies,  in  which  George  III.  might  be  considered  an 

individual  aggressor,  as  having  given  his  assent  to  the 

obnoxious  laws  mentioned,  or  as  having  done  the  acts 

complained  of  by  his  own  authority,  it  was  thought  un- 

just and  perhaps  untrue,  to  charge  him  with  the  cruel- 

ties and  horrors  of  the  slave  trade.     This  trade  it  will 

be  recollected  had  been  carried  on  long  before  his  reign. 

It  is  probable  that  George  III.  never  gave  his  assent  to 

any  law  on  that  subject,  except  to  that  which  declared 

its  abolition.     In  the  clause  of  the  original  draught  that 

upbraids  George  III.  with  the  hiring  and  sending  fo- 

reign  mercenary  troops    to    invade  America,    among 

those  mentioned,  the  Scotch  are  specified.     It  was  said 

that  Dr.  Witherspoon,  the  learned  president  of  Nas- 

sau Hall  College,  who  was  a  Scotchman  by  birth,  moved 

to  strike  out  the  word  "  Scotch"  which  was  according- 

ly done. 

The  fame  of  R.  H.  Lee,  in  reference  to  the  question 


*  This  resolution  Tvas  moved  by  Charles  F.  Mercer,  Esq.  of 
Virginia. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  J77 

and  Declaration  of  Independence,  has  not,  unfrequently, 
been  placed  in  competition  with  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 
The  true  history  of  this  celebrated  period,  furnishes  no 
ground  for  this.  Whatever  merit  is  due  to  the  part  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  acted  on  this  occasion,  and  whatever  fame 
is  justly  ascribable  to  him,  as  the  writer  of  the  original 
draught,  and  the  chief  author  of  the  present  copy  of  the 
declaration,  they  are  distinct  from  the  merit  and  fame  of 
Mr.  Lee.  All  the  prominent  acts  of  the  political  life  of 
the  latter  gentleman,  both  in  the  legislature  and  conven- 
tions of  Virginia,  and  in  the  continental  Congress,  dis- 
tinguished him  as  an  intrepid  advocate  of  independence. 
He  made  the  first  direct  motion  upon  the  subject  in  the 
latter  body,  in  which  situation,  he  could  not  fail  to  be 
marked  out  by  an  implacable  ministry;  and  publicly, 
amid  danger,  doubt,  and  dismay,  zealously,  and  ably 
maintained  the  right  and  policy  of  immediate  and  total 
separation  from  the  state  of  Great  Britain.* 

*  The  following  extract  and  anecdote,  show  the  opinions  of 
men,  as  to  the  perils  of  this  period  :  "  And  should  the  same  dis- 
passionate consideration  of  the  subject  be  resumed,  for  another 
purpose,  it  will  be  found,  that  at  no  time  of  the  struggle,  from 
the  symptoms  of  disaffection,  to  the  period  when  a  small  mino- 
rity of  the  oppressed,  gave  battle  to  their  oppressors  in  the  eastern 
colonies,  to  the  declaration  of  the  majority  against  tyranny,  though 
clothed  in  the  venerable  habiliments  of  British  law,  and  to  the 
consummation  of  their  independence,  was  there  a  period  so  criti- 
cal, as  when  that  declaration  was  first  proposed  by  R.  H  Lee. 
Let  it  be  supposed,  for  a  moment,  that  it  had  been  rejected  !  How 
different  would  have  been  the  present  situation  of  America!  F  ance 
•would  have  had  no  confidence  in  a  people,  who  had  none  in  them- 
selves, and  to  this  hour,  America  might  have  been  a  part  of  the  Bri- 
tish empire.  The  Americans,  until  this  paper  was  published  to  the 
world,  had  done  nothing  which  their  king  might  not  have  forgiven 
with  dignity. — Extract  from  P  Allen's  History  of  the  American 
Revolution. 

It  is  related  of  Mr.  B.  Harrison,  of  Virginia,  and  of  Mr. 
Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,  that  after  they  had  signed  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  Mr.  Harrison,  who  was  a  very  large,  fat  man? 
said  to  Mr.  Gerry,  who  was  thin,  "when  the  hanging  scene  comes, 
I  shall  have  the  advantage  of  you — for  all  will  be  over  with  me. 
while  you  will  be  still  kicking  in  the  air." 
VOL.  I. — Z 


178  L1FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

An  informed  and  grateful  posterity  will  readily  ac 
knowledge,  and  cheerfully  ascribe  to  this  great  man,  the 
fame  which  patriotism  has  long  since  awarded  to  him,  to 
the  justice  of  which,  history  bears  its  admiring  attesta- 
tion. Perhaps,  it  may  not  be  too  bold,  to  hazard  the 
prediction,  that  whenever  a  patriot,  in  either  hemisphere, 
shall  hereafter  look  with  admiration  and  joy  upon  the 
freedom  and  glory  of  the  United  States,  in  his  warmest 
accents,  he  will  call  on  the  name  of  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
and  bid  one  of  the  father's  of  his  country,  hail!"* 

Authentic  anecdotes  show  that  his  name  immediately 
became  known  in  Europe,  and  particularly  in  England, 
and  that  the  ministry  kept  him  steadily  in  their  eyep 
during  the  whole  war. 

A  sonf  of  Mr.  Lee,  was,  at  the  time  of  the  declaration 
of  independence,  at  school  in  St.  Bees,  in  England. 
From  him,  the  writer  has  heard  some  anecdotes  illus- 
trating this  fact.  The  ministerial  papers,  which  gave 
the  first  intelligence  of  this  event,  to  the  inhabitants  oi 
that  place,  headed  the  column  containing  American  news, 
thus:  u  Richard  Henry  Lee  and  Patrick  Henry,  have  at 
last  accomplished  their  object:  The  colonies  have  de- 
clared themselves  independent  of  the  mother  country." 
One  day,  as  this  youth  was  standing  near  one  of  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  academy,  who  was  conversing  with  a 
gentleman  of  the  neighbouring  country,  he  heard  the 
question  asked,  "  what  boy  is  this?"  to  which  the  pro- 
fessor answered,  ;t  he  is  a  son  of  Richard  Henry  Lee, 

*  One  of  the  revolutionary  patriots,  Colonel  Humphreys,  has 
paid  him  a  fine  compliment.  In  a  poem  he  wrote  on  the  subject 
of  the  new  federal  constitution,  when  deploring  the  difference  of 
opinion  on  this  subject,  which  existed  between  many  of  the  revo- 
lutionary worthies,  he  thus  alludes  to  R.  H.  Lee,  who  opposed  it; 

"  Why  asunder  are  they  torn, 
Why  his  loss  should  millions  mourn, 
Who,  to  glad  the  astonished  earth) 
SPOKE  an  emfiire  into  birth" 

t  Ludwell  Lee,  Esq.,  of  Virginia. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  179 

of  America."  The  gentleman,  upon  hearing  this,  put 
his  hand  upon  his  head,  and  said,  "  we  shall  yet  see  your 
father's  head  upon  Tower  Hill;"  to  which  the  boy  an- 
swered, "  you  may  have  it,  when  you  can  get  it/' 

Governor  Johnson,  of  Maryland,  told  the  writer,  that 
shortly  after  the  war,  he  heard  from  an  English  gentle- 
man of  great  respectability,  who  had  lived  in  London 
during  the  revolution,  and  who  had  opportunities  of 
hearing  a  good  deal  of  the  plans  and  intentions  of  the 
ministry,  that  they  had  intended,  in  the  event  of  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  colonies,  to  have  demanded  the  delivery  of 
General  Washington  and  Richard  H.  Lee,  and  to  have 
executed  them  as  the  principal  rebels.  The  writer  was 
acquainted  with  a  person,  who,  for  many  years,  was  a 
manager  on  Mr.  Lee's  estate.  His  integrity  and  cha- 
racter for  truth,  were  more  than  ordinarily  respected. 
He  often  related  as  a  fact,  the  following  incident:  He 
had  been  at  a  wedding  some  distance  from  Mr.  Lee's 
residence,  which  was  immediately  on  the  banks  of  the 
Potomac,  and  returned  late  at  night.  Not  more  than 
half  an  hour  after  his  return,  the  door  of  the  house  in 
which  he  was,  was  forced  open,  and  a  midshipman  and 
a  captain  of  marines,  attended  by  several  armed  men, 
entered  his  room,  and  commanded  him  to  tell  whether 
Richard  H.  Lee,  was  not  in  the  dwelling-house  or  some- 
where upon  the  farm.  He  declared  that  he  was  not.  Sus- 
pecting that  fidelity  to  his  employer  induced  him  to  deny 
the  truth,  they  then  offered  him  a  purse  containing 
many  guineas,  if  he  would  tell  them  where  Mr.  Lee 
was.  He  told  them  that  Mr.  Lee  had  that  morning  set 
out  for  Philadelphia,  to  the  Congress.  They  then  has- 
tily returned  to  their  boat.  Mr.  Lee,  however,  was  only 
four  miles  distant  from  the  house. 

General  Charles  Lee,  it  will  be  recollected  by  the 
reader,  was  taken  prisoner  in  December,  1776,  and 
was  closely  confined  by  the  British  commander,  Lord 
Howe,  in  New  York.  While  in  captivity,  General  Lee 
wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Lee,  in  which  he  tells  him  that- 
General  and  Lord  Howe,  had  given  him  permission  to 


J8Q  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

write  to  Congress.  The  purpose  for  which  he  wrote, 
he  states  to  be,  to  induce  Congress  to  send  two  or  three 
gentlemen  to  New  York,  to  whom  he  could  communi- 
cate what  deeply  interested  the  public.  He  urges  Mr. 
Lee  to  come,  assuring  him  that  he  would  be  safe  under 
the  word  of  Lord  Howe.  The  Congress,  however,  had  not 
equal  confidence  with  Gen.  Lee,  in  Lord  Howe's  word, 
and  rejected  his  request.  The  friendship  which  Mr.  Lee 
entertained  for  General  Lee,  the  generous  sympathy 
which  he  felt  for  his  misfortune,  prevailed  for  a  time 
over  his  judgment,  and  strongly  inclined  him  to  visit,  in 
his  private  character,  his  distressed  and  captive  friend, 
who  had  so  disinterestedly  devoted  his  life  and  I  services 
to  America.  His  particular  friends,  and  many  members 
of  Congress,  earnestly  remonstrated  against  such  a  ha- 
zardous step,  under  the  general  belief,  that  he  was 
known  to  the  British  ministry,  and  to  the  commanders 
of  the  British  armies,  as  the  mover  of  the  declaration  of 
independence,  and  was  on  that  account,  so  obnoxious  to 
them,  that  no  faith  would  be  kept  with  him.  Mr.  Lee 
yielded  to  their  remonstrance,  and  to  the  conviction  oi 
his  own  understanding,  which  for  a  time  had  been  in 
servitude  to  his  heart.  He  tells  his  friend,  in  reply,  that 
"  he  had  not  the  smallest  idea  of  personal  danger.''  He 
briefly  and  faintly  alludes  to  the  impossibility  of  his  com- 
pliance with  the  request  which  General  Lee  had  so 
earnestly  pressed.  His  reply  is  marked  with  the  bre- 
vity of  deep  feeling,  and  with  the  language  of  manly 
grief,  which  swells  the  bosom  when  it  cannot  serve  its 
friend  in  the  hour  of  need.  The  reader  will  pardon  the 
transcription  of  General  Lee's  letter,  and  Mr.  Lee's 
answer. 

[Letter  from  Gen.  C.  Lee,  to  E.  H.  Lee.] 

11  MY  DEAR  FRIEND — Lord  and  General  Howe,  have 
given  me  leave  to  write  to  the  Congress.  My  request  is5 
that  they  will  suffer  two  or  three  gentlemen  to  repair 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEI 

to  New  York,  to  whom  I  wish  to  communicate  what 
certainly  deeply  interests  me,  and  I  think  full  as  much 
the  public.     If  you  should  be  nominated,  I  beg  you  will 
set  out  with  all  possible  expedition,  as  expedition  in  the 
present  crisis  of  affairs,  is  of  very  material  consequence 
I  would  not  urge  you,  (I  know  you  too  well,)  to  act  against 
your  opinion;  but,  as  I  cannot  see  the  least  ill  conse- 
quences which  can  attend  the  measure,  I  cannot  help 
expressing  my  wishes  that  you  would  use  your  influence 
to  accomplish  it.     You  will  be  in  perfect  security,  for 
the  word  of  Lord  and  General  Howe,  as  gentlemen,  are 
unquestionably  to  be  depended  upon;  and,  abstracted 
from  all  public  considerations,  you  would,  I  am  confi- 
dent, undergo  much  greater   inconvenience  than  this 
journey  to  serve  one  who  is, 

Most  truly  and  affectionately  yours, 

CHARLES  LEE 

To  RICHARD  HESRY  or  FIUKCIS  LKE,  Esq." 

[Reply  of  R.  H.  Lee.} 

"PHILADELPHIA,  FEBRUAHT  11,  1777. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND — My  feelings  are  not  be  describ- 
ed. I  would  go  to  every  extremity  to  serve  my  friend, 
and  the  able  friend  of  liberty  and  mankind.  But  here 
my  power  fails.  I  have  not  the  smaHest  idea  of  per- 
sonal danger,  nor  does  this  affect  the  present  question. 

Farewell,  my  dear  friend,  may  you  be  as  happy  as  you 
deserve,  then  the  cause  of  humanity  will  have  nothing 
to  fear  for  you. 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE."* 

While  Mr.  Lee  was  in  Virginia,  he  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  giving  him  an  interesting 
account  of  the  public  affairs,  and  of  the  effect  of  the 

*Both  the  above  letters  are  taken  from  the  original  manuscripts 
The  reader  will  find,  in  Appendix,  No.  6,  a  letter  from  General 
Charles  Lee,  to  Lord  Percy,  while  he  was  with  the  British  army 
in  Boston.  It  is  due  to  his  memory,  to  present  this  letter  to  the 
public. 


'     LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

declaration  of  independence  upon  the  country.     This 
letter  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting. 

[Letter  from  Samuel  Mams,  to  R.  H.  Lee.] 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  JULY  15th,  1776. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  must  acknowledge,  that  when  you 
left  Congress,. I  gave  you  reason  to  expect  a  letter  from 
me  before  this  time.  You  will  not,  I  am  very  certain, 
attribute  my  omission  to  the  want  of  a  most  cordial 
esteem  for  you.  The  truth  is,  I  hardly  know  how  to 
write,  without  saying  something  about  our  Canadian 
affairs;  and  this  is  a  subject  so  thoroughly  mortifying 
to  me,  that  I  could  wish,  totally  to  forget  all  that  has 
passed  in  that  country.  Let  me,  however,  just  mention 
to  you,  that  Schuyler  and  Gates  are  to  command  the 
troops,  the  former  while  they  are  without,  the  latter 
while  they  are  within,  the  bounds  of  Canada.  Admitting 
these  generals  to  have  the  accomplishments  of  a  Marlbo- 
rough,  or  an  Eugene,  \  cannot  conceive  that  such  a  dis- 
position of  them  will  be  attended  with  any  good  effects, 
unless  harmony  subsist  between  them.  Alas!  I  fear  this 
is  not  the  case.  Already,  disputes  have  arisen,  which 
they  have  referred  to  Congress;  and,  although  fhey  affect 
to  treat  each  other  with  a  politeness  becoming  their  rank, 
in  my  mind,  altercations  between  commanders  who  have 
pretensions  so  nearly  equal,  (I  mean  in  point  of  com- 
mand) forebode  a  repetition  of  misfortune.  I  sincerely 
wish  my  apprehensions  may  prove  to  be  groundless. 

General  Howe,  as  you  have  heard,  is  arrived  at  New 
York.  He  has  brought  with  him  from  eight  to  ten 
thousand  troops.  Lord  Howe  arrived  last  week,  and 
the  whole  fleet  is  hourly  expected.  The  enemy  landed 
in  Staten  Island.  Nothing  has  been  done,  saving  that 
last  Friday,  about  three  in  the  afternoon,  a  forty  and 
twenty  gun  ship,  with  several  tenders,  taking  the  advan- 
tage of  a  fair  and  fresh  gale,  and  flowing  tide,  passed  by 
our  forts  as  far  as  King's  Bridge.  General  Miffim, 
who  commanded  there,  in  a  letter  of  the  fifth  instant 


OF  RICHARP  HENRY  J.EE,  183 

informed  us  that  he  had  twenty-one  cannon  planted,  and 
hoped,  in  a  week,  to  be  formidable.  Reenforcements 
have  arrived  from  New  England,  and  our  army  are  in 
high  spirits.  /  am  exceedingly  pleased  with  the  calm 
and  determined  spirit  ivhich  our  Commander-in-chief  has 
discovered  in  all  his  letters  to  Confess.  May  heaven 
guide  and  prosper  him*  The  militia  of  the  Jerseys, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland,  are  all  in  motion.  Gene- 
ral Mercer  commands  the  flying  camp  in  the  Jerseys, 
We  have  just  now  appointed  a  committee  to  bring  in  a 
plan  for  the  reenforcement,  to  complete  the  numbers  of 
twenty  thousand  men  to  be  posted  in  that  colony. 

Our  declaration  of  independence  has  given  vigour  to 
the  spirits  of  the  people.  Had  this  decisive  measure 
been  taken  nine  months  ago,  it  is  my  opinion,  that 
Canada  would  by  this  time  have  been  in  our  hands. 
But  what  does  it  avail  to  find  fault  with  what  is  past? 
Let  us  do  better  for  the  future.  We  were  more  fortunate 
than  we  expected,  in  having  twelve  of  the  thirteen  colo- 
nies in  favour  of  the  all-important  question.  The 
delegates  from  New  Jersey  were  not  empowered  to  give 
their  voice  on  either  side.  Their  convention  has  since 
acceded  to  the  declaration,  and  published  it  even  before 
they  received  it  from  Congress.  So  mighty  a  change 
in  so  short  a  time!  New  Jersey  has  finished  her  form 
of  government,  a  copy  of  which  I  enclose.  They  have 
sent  five  new  delegates,  among  whom  are  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  and  Judge  Stockton.  All  of  them  appear  zealously 
attached  to  the  American  cause.  A  convention  is  now 
meeting  in  this  city,  to  form  a  constitution  for  this  colony. 
They  are  empowered  by  their  constituents,  to  appoint  a 
new  committee  of  safety  to  act  for  the  present,  and  to 
choose  new  delegates  for  Congress.  I  am  told  there 
will  be  a  change  of  men,  and  if  so,  I  hope  for  the  better. 

A  plan  of  confederation  has  been  brought  into  Con- 
gress, which  I  hope  will  be  speedily  digested,  and  be  made 

*  Yet,  Judge  Johnson  has  represented  Samuel  Adams  as  an 
enemy  to  Generals  Washington  and  Greene. 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

ready  to  be  laid  before  the  several  states  for  their  appro- 
bation. A  committee  has  now  under  consideration  a 
plan  of  foreign  alliance.  It  is  high  time  for  us  to  have 
ambassadors  at  foreign  courts.  I  fear  we  have  already 
suffered  too  much  by  delay.  You  know  on  whom  our 
thoughts  were  turned  when  you  were  with  us. 

I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  favouring  me  with  the 
form  of  government  agreed  upon  by  your  countrymen. 
I  have  not  yet  had  time  to  peruse  it,  but  I  dare  say,  it 
will  be  a  feast  to  our  little  circle.  The  device  on  your 
great  seal  pleases  me  much. 

Pray  hasten  your  journey  hither.  Your  country  most 
pressingly  solicits,  or,  will  you  allow  me  to  say,  demands 
your  assistance  here.  I  have  written  in  great  haste. 

Adieu,  my  dear  sir,  and  be  assured  that  I  am,  very 
affectionately,  your  friend, 

S.  ADAMS.'* 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 


185 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


CONGRESS  was  about  to  exercise  the  highest  attribute 
of  political  sovereignty,  in  the  formation  of  treaties  with 
foreign  nations.  Mr.  Lee  had  long  looked  upon  the 
contracting  of  treaties  of  alliance  with  some  of  the  great 
powers  of  Europe,  rivals  of  Britain,  as  the  policy  which 
would  most  essentially  serve  our  cause.  As  soon,  there- 
fore, as  he  could  leave  home,  he  returned  to  Congress, 
in  time  to  aid  in  that  most  important  business.  On  the 
twenty-seventh  of  August,  it  was  Resolved,  "  that  the  plan 
of  treaties,  with  thfi  amendments,  (which  had  been  made  in 
committee  of  the  whole  House,)  be  referred  to  the  com- 
mittee who  brought  in  the  original  plan,  in  order  to  draw 
up  instructions,  pursuant  to  the  amendments."  It  was 
ordered,  that  two  members  be  added  to  the  committee: 
the  members  chosen  were  Messrs.  Lee  and  Wilson.* 
On  the  seventh  of  September  it  was  Resolved,  that  two 
members  be  added  to  the  committee  appointed  on  the 
twenty-fourth  of  July  last,  to  consider  the  proposal  made 
by  the  president  of  South  Carolina,  respecting  General 
Lee,  in  room  of  those  absent:  Messrs.  Lee  and  Walton 
were  chosen. f  On  the  fourteenth  of  October,  a  com- 
mittee of  three  was  appointed,  to  devise  ways  and  means 
for  supplying  the  treasury  with  a  further  sum  of  money. 
The  members  chosen  were  Messrs.  Lee,  Wilson,  and 
Hall.J  A  committee  of  five  was  appointed,  on  the  thirty- 
first  of  October,  to  prepare  an  effectual  plan  for  suppress- 
ing the  internal  enemies  of  America,  and  preventing  the 
communication  of  intelligence  to  the  enemy.§  Of  this 
committee,  Mr.  Lee  was  one.||  He  was  chairman  of  a 

*  Jour.  p.  330.  f  Ib.  p.  346.  $Ib.  p,415, 

§  Ib.  p.  439.  ||  Ib.  p.  478. 

VOL.  I. — A  a 


136  Lllfc  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

committee,  to  whom  was  referred  a  plan  of  an  artiller 
yard,  which  had  been  laid  before  Congress.*  On  thi 
following  day,  he  was  chosen  chairman  of  a  committee 
who  were  ordered  to  consider  and  report  a  proper  plai 
for  establishing  and  training  cavalry,  in  the  continents 
army.f  Several  letters  from  Generals  Washingtor 
Ward,  Gates,  and  Morgan;  a  petition  and  remonstranc 
from  the  captains  and  subalterns  of  Colonel  Mackay! 
battalion;  a  letter  from  Lieutenant  Colonel  Wilson,  an 
one  from  Colonel  Hazard,  were  received,  read,  and  o 
the  9th  instant  referred  to  the  committee  on  the  norther 
army.  It  was  ordered,  that  another  member  be  adde 
to  that  committee:  Mr.  Lee  was  the  member  chosen, 
On  the  same  day,  he  was  chosen  on  a  committee,  wit 
Dr.  Witherspoon  and  S.  Adams,  to  prepare  an  addrei 
to  the  people  of  America,  and  a  recommendation  to  th 
several  states  to  appoint  a  day  of  humiliation.,  fasting,  an 

prayer.§ 

On  the  ninth  of  December,  several  letters  were  r< 
ceived  from  Generals  Washington,  Sullivan,  and  Wooj 
ter;  and  several  from  R.  Morris,  Esq.;  and  were  referre 
to  a  committee  of  four,  of  which  Mr.  Lee  was  chairmai 
On  the  twenty-sixth  of  the  same  month,  it  was  Resolvei 
that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed,  to  take  into  cor 
sideration  the  state  of  the  army,  and  report  thereon  t< 
morrow.  Of  this  committee,  Mr.  Lee  was  chairmai 
It  reported  on  the  following  day,  in  which  a  minute  viei 
of  the  military  concerns  of  the  colonies  was  given. 

This  report  contained  a  proposition  of  a  novel  an 
highly  important  nature.  It  was  a  proposition  so  far  t 
enlarge  the  powers  of  General  Washington,  as  to  creal 
him  almost  dictator.  A  jealousy  of  military  power  ha 
long  characterized  the  people  of  England,  and  of  th 
colonies.  The  salutary  principle  of  the  absolute  suboi 
dination  of  the  military  to  the  civil  power,  was  a  funda 
mental  principle  of  the  English  constitution,  and  wa 

*  Jour.  p.  480.  f  Ib.  p.  493.  \  Ib.  p.  506. 

§  Ib.  p.  508. 


OP  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  jg7 

strictly  enforced  and  jealously  guarded  by  the  people  of 
North  America.  No  man  ever  more  uniformly  main- 
tained this  principle  than  Mr.  Lee.  The  crisis,  how- 
ever, was  an  awful  one.  Britain  was  putting  forth  her 
gigantic  strength,  to  crush,  at  once,  the  rights  of  the  colo- 
nies. The  prospect  was,  indeed,  dark  and  foreboding, 
at  the  close  of  the  year  '76.  The  Congress  was  forced, 
by  the  pressure  of  an  overruling  necessity,  to  pass  an  act 
vesting  great  and  extraordinary  powers  in  General  Wash- 
ington. That  body  was  sensible  of  the  delicacy  of  the 
step.  Murmurs  against  the  measure  were  heard  from 
several  quarters,  which  induced  the  Congress  to  address 
a  communication  to  the  governors  and  assemblies  of  the 
states,  explanatory  of  this  resolution.  This  address  had 
the  desired  effect.  The  character  of  Washington,  no 
doubt,  greatly  tended  to  gain  the  acquiescence  of  the 
states.  This  illustrious  citizen  exercised  these  powers, 
as  he  exercised  all  others  entrusted  to  him  by  his  coun- 
try, for  its  good  alone.  It  has  been  seen,  that  Mr.  Lee 
was  the  chairman  of  the  committee  which  proposed  the 
measure  of  granting  extraordinary  powers  to  the  com- 
mander in  chief.  That  part  of  the  report  conferring 
those  powers,  was  found  among  Mr.  Lee's  manuscripts, 
in  his  own  hand  writing;  with  which,  the  report  in  the 
Journal  almost  entirely  corresponds.  On  the  twenty- 
eighth  it  was  "Resolved,  That  a  committee  should  be 
appointed  to  prepare  a  circular  letter  to  the  several  states, 
explaining  the  reasons  which  induced  Congress  to  enlarge 
the  powers  of  General  Washington,  and  requesting  them 
to  co-operate  with  him,  and  give  him  all  the  aid  in  their 
power."  The  members  chosen  were  Messrs.  Lee, 
Wilson,  and  Adams.*  The  letter  was  draughted  by 
Mr.  Lee,  and  is  here  copied  from  his  original  manu- 
script. 

"  SIR — Ever  attentive  to  the  security  of  civil  liberty, 
Congress  would  not  have  consented  to  the  vesting  of 

*Sec  Jour.p  509. 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

such  powers  in  the  military  department,  as  those,  the 
enclosed  convey  to  the  continental  commander  in  chief, 
if  the  situation  of  public  affairs  did  not  at  this  crisis, 
require  a  decision  and  vigour,  which  distance  and  num- 
bers deny  to  Assemblies,  far  removed  from  each  other, 
and  from  the  immediate  seat  of  war.  The  strength  and 
progress  of  the  enemy,  joined  to  the  prospect  of  con- 
siderable reenforcernents,  have  rendered  it  not  only  ne- 
cessary, that  the  American  forces  should  be  augmented 
beyond  what  Congress  had  before  designed,  but  that 
it  should  be  brought  into  the  field  with  all  possible  ex- 
pedition. These  considerations  therefore  induced  Con- 
gress to  request,  in  the  most  earnest  manner,  that  the 
fullest  influence  of  your  station  may  be  exerted,  to  aid 
such  levies  as  tho  general  shall,  in  consequence  of  the 
powers  now  given  him,  direct ;  and  that  your  quota  of 
battalions,  formerly  fixed,  may  be  completed,  and  or- 
dered to  head  quarters  with  all  the  despatch  an  ardent 
desire  to  secure  the  public  happiness  can  dictate." 

A  treaty  of  alliance  with  France  and  Spain,  had  long 
been  considered  by  Mr,  Lee,  as  a  measure  of  vital  im- 
portance to  the  colonies.  He  long  argued  that  policy, 
no  less  than  the  jealousy  of  the  power  of  Great  Britain, 
entertained,  particularly  by  France,  would  induce  these 
powers  to  take  a  direct  part  in  favour  of  American 
liberty.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  independence  had  been 
declared,  he  strenuously  advised  the  immediate  appoint- 
ment of  ambassadors  to  the  courts  of  these  nations.  The 
Congress  being  fully  sensible  of  the  importance  of  such 
a  step,  appointed  commissioners  to  the  court  of  Ver- 
sailles. Before  they  sailed  Mr.  Lee  moved  in  Congress 
several  instructions  to  be  given  them,  all  of  which  were 
agreed  to.  These  hsads  of  instruction  are  here  copied 
from  the  original  manuscript  in  Mr.  Lee's  handwriting. 
"  As  the  scarcity  of  arms,  artillery,  and  other  military 
stores,  is  so  considerable,  would  it  not  be  proper  to  in- 
struct the  ambassador  to  France,  that  he  press  for  an 
immediate  supply  of  twenty,  or  thirty  thousand  stand  of 
well  fitted  muskets  and  bayonets,  a  good  supply  of  brass 


OF  RICHARD  ^HENRY  LEE. 

field-pieces,  gunpowder,  &c.  That  these  be  seat  under 
convoy.  That  a  few  good  engineers  be  sent. 

"  It  seems  very  clear  that  France  does  not  mean  to 
let  America  sink  in  the  present  contest.  But  distance, 
and  the  difficulty  of  giving  a  true  account  of  our  con- 
dition, may  be  the  cause  of  opinions  being  entertained 
of  our  power  to  support  the  war  on  our  own  resources, 
longer  than  we  can  in  fact  do.  Considering  this,  may 
it  not  be  proper  for  the  ambassador  to  press  for  an  im- 
mediate declaration  of  France,  upon  the  suggestion  that 
our  re-union  with  Great  Britain  might  be  endangered 
by  longer  delay.  Should  Spain  be  disinclined  to  our 
cause,  from  apprehension  of  danger  to  her  South  Ame- 
rican dominions,  cannot  France  be  prevailed  upon  (at 
our  request  and  upon  our  assurances,)  to  guarantee  to 
that  crown,  her  colonies  here,  from  any  molestation 
from  us.  Should  not  the  ambassador  give  us  the  most 
speedy  and  effectual  intelligence  of  his  progress,  that  it 
may  concern  us  to  have/' 

During  the  period,  from  October,  1776,  when  the  com- 
missioners sailed  for  France,  until  a  treaty  was  concluded 
with  that  country,  Mr.  Lee  carried  on  a  continued  and 
full  correspondence  with  his  brother,  Arthur  Lee,  Esq. 
one  of  them,  in  which  he  gave  him  every  information 
relative  to  the  military  and  political  affairs  of  the  United 
States.  This  intelligence,  thus  received  and  communi- 
cated to  the  other  commissioners,  was  of  essential  ad- 
vantage to  them  in  conducting  their  negotiations  to  a 
successful  conclusion.  The  reader  will  find,  in  appen- 
dix number  eight,  several  interesting  letters  from  the 
Congress,  through  their  committee  of  correspondence, 
of  which  Mr.  Lee  was  a  member.  They  were  written 
by  him,  They  are  here  copied  from  original  manu- 
scripts, in  his  hand  writing.  They  contain  a  more 
complete  account  of  the  state  of  the  American  confede- 
racy, than  can  be  elsewhere  found.  They  show  the 
ease  with  which  Mr.  Lee  blended  the  minuteness  of  de- 
tail of  a  man  of  business  with  the  comprehensive  views 
of  an  enlightened  statesman.  On  the  twenty-eighth  of 


190  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

January,  1777,  it  was  resolved  that  a  committee  of  three 
be  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  the  state  of 
Georgia.  Mr  Lee  was  one  of  this  committee.*  It  was 
on  this  day  ordered,  that  the  proceedings  of  the  com- 
mittees from  the  four  New  England  states,  which  were 
under  the  consideration  of  the  whole  Congress,  be  re- 
ferred to  a  committee  of  five;  of  which  Mr.  Lee  was 
chosen  chairman.f  But  a  few  of  the  numerous  com- 
mittees on  which  Mr.  Lee  served  during  the  months  of 
January  and  February,  1777,  have  here  been  mentioned. 
The  reader  will  find,  (if  he  take  the  trouble  to  examine 
the  Journals  of  these  months,)  that  he  was  continually 
employed  on  committees  to  which  were  referred  the 
"driest  details  of  business/'  without  the  diligent  and 
skilful  performance  of  whose  duties,  the  great  business 
of  war  could  not  have  gone  on.J 

On  the  ninth  of  April,  it  was  resolved,  that  a  com- 
mittee of  five  be  appointed  "  to  consider  what  steps  are 
necessary  to  be  taken  by  Congress,  and  recommended 
to  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  for  opposing  the  enemy,  ii 
they  should  attempt  to  penetrate  through  New  Jersey 
and  attack  Philadelphia;  that  the  said  committee  be  in- 
structed to  confer  with  the  executive  council  of  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania  on  this  subject,  and  with  the  gene- 
ral officers  now  in  Philadelphia."  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen 
one  of  this  committee.§  The  reader  will  find  in  the 
appendix,  number  seven,  a  letter  from  this  committee  to 
General  Washington,  on  the  subject  of  the  defence  oi 
the  city  of  Philadelphia.  It  was  written  by  Mr.  Lee, 
and  is  there  copied  from  his  original  manuscript.  On 
the  thirteenth  instant  the  committee  of  appeals  from  the 
admiralty  courts,  reported,  that  they  had  heard  the  ap- 
peal in  the  case  of  the  claimants  and  owners  of  the 
brigantine  Shelburne,  fully  argued,  and  that  the  com- 
mittee being  equally  divided  in  opinion,  no  verdict  could 

*  Journal,  third  volume,  p.  39.  f  Ibid.  p.  52 

$  Such  as  related  to  the  clothing  and  feeding  the  armies,  &c. 
Sec.  §  Journal,  p.  127. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

be  given.    The  Congress  resolved,  "  that  a  committee 
of  five  be  appointed,  to  rehear  and  determine  the  said 
appeal."     Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  one  of  this  committee.* 
On  the  following  day  he  was  chosen  one  of  a  commit- 
tee to  confer  with  the  executive  council  of  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  with  the  board  of  war  of  that  state 
on  military  concerns.!     An  appeal  being  delivered,  on 
the  sixteenth  instant,  to  the  secretary,  from  a  judg- 
ment of  a  court  of  admiralty,  held  at  Plymouth  in  the 
state  of  Massachusetts,  on  a  libel  against  the  schooner 
Industry,  it  was  Resolved,  "  that  it  be  referred  to  the 
standing  committee  of  appeals."     It  was  then  moved, 
that  it  be  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  four.    This 
motion  prevailed,  and  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  one  of  its 
members.     On  the  twenty-third  instant,  it  was  Resolved, 
"that  a  committee  of  six  be  appointed  to  devise  ways 
and  means  for  speedily  reenforcing  General  Washing- 
ton's army."     Of  this  committee  Mr.  Lee  was  one.J 

The  long  and  laborious  services  of  Mr.  Lee  in  Con- 
gress, had  now  shaken  his  constitution.  From  this 
period  of  his  life,  he  never  enjoyed  good  health,  although 
he  continued  in  public.  On  the  fifth  June,  it  was 
Ordered,  "  That  Richard  Henry  Lee  have  leave  of  ab- 
sence, his  health  and  private  affairs  requiring  his  return 
to  Virginia."§ 

Justice  to  his  reputation  required  his  presence  in  Vir 

ginia.  It  will  be  with  difficulty  believed,  in  those  days,  in 

which  hatred  of  tyranny,  a  love  of  freedom,  and  respect 

for  great  and  good  men,  seemed  to  have  been  so  generally 

felt,  that  there  were  men,  both  in,  and  out  of  the  legislature 

of  Virginia,  who  envied  the  fame  and  popularity  of  Mr. 

Lee,  and  slandered  his  character.     It  would  be  thought, 

that  the  patriotism  of  Mr.  Lee,  could  not  have  been 

doubted.    It  was  not  by  virtuous  and  enlightened  men, 

nor  indeed,  by  those  wicked  and  designing  persons,  who 

raised  a  clamour  against  him.    Their  malice,  however, 

at  last,  served  only  to  brighten  his  fame. 

*  See  Journal,  p.  134.      t  Ibid,  p,  136,      f  Ibid.  p.  152. 
$  Ibid,  p,  214. 


AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

The  Virginia  legislature,  in  common  with  Congress^ 
had  been  compelled  to  issue  great  quantities  of  paper 
money  during  the  year  '76,  and  the  winter  of  the  year 
'77.     The  invariable  consequence  followed,  a  deprecia- 
tion of  the  currency.     Mr.  Lee,  when  the  non-inter- 
course associations  mentioned  in  a  former  part  of  this 
Memoir,  were  formed,  had  agreed  with  his  tenants  on 
a  tract  of  land  in  the  upper  part  of  the  state,  to  com- 
mute their  rents  in  money,  into  rents  of  produce.    This 
circumstance, 'although  a  favour  conferred  on  his  tenants, 
at  a  time  when  there  was  no  market  for  their  produce, 
served,  in  a  change  of  circumstances,  as  a  basis  for  the 
charge  of  the  envious  and  disaffected.  They  insinuated, 
that  he  was,  in  heart,  a  tory,  and  was,  in  reality,  an  enemy 
to  the  cause  of  America;  that  he  had  refused  to  take 
the  money  of  the  state,  in  payment  of  rents  due  by  his 
tenants,  with  a  design  to  depreciate  its  value,  and  thus 
v  to  embarrass  the  public  efforts  to  maintain  the  war. 
They  charged  him  with  several  other  crimes  against  the 
public  good:    Among  others,  they  accused  him  with 
having  favoured  the  interests  of  New  England,  to  the 
injury  of  the  interests  of  Virginia.     Such  is  the  pro- 
pensity of  corrupt  human  nature,  to  delight  and  believe 
in  whatever  can  suggest  doubts  of  the  virtue  of  those 
who  are  eminently  illustrious,  that  the  above  charges 
against  Mr.  Lee  were  widely  circulated,  and  by  many, 
credited. 

In  May  '77,  the  Virginia  Assembly  met,  and  soon 
after  its  so  sion  commenced,  it  proceeded  to  the  annual 
election  of  deputies  to  the  Congress.  At  this  election, 
Mr.  Lee  was  left  out.  Having  been  informed  of  the 
charges  made  against  him,  and  being,  as  it  has  been 
mentioned,  indisposed,  he  returned  home.  He  had  been 
recently  re-elected  by  the  county  of  Westmoreland,  a 
member  of  the  Assembly  of  Virginia,  and  a  short  time 
after  his  arrival  at  home,  went  to  Richmond;  to  demand 
an  inquiry  into  his  public  conduct.  The  following 
account  of  this  transaction  of  Mr.  Lee's  life,  is  taken 
from  an  elegant  and  accurate  continuation  of  Mr.  BurkV 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

History  of  Virginia,  page  225.  "  Thomas  Nelson,  one 
of  the  delegates  then  in  Congress,  was  compelled,  by  the 
bad  state  of  his  health,  to  resign  that  station,  no  less 
laborious  than  honourable.  George  Mason  was  ap- 
pointed in  his  place;  and,  by  the  joint  ballot  of  both 
Houses,  Benjamin  Harrison,  George  Mason,  Joseph 
Jones,  Francis  L.  Lee,  and  John  Harvie,  were  elected 
delegates  to  the  general  Congress,  from  the  eleventh 
August  following.  Thus  icas  Richard  Hennj  Lee  omitted 
in  this  appointment.  It  appears,  that  reports  injurious 
to  the  reputation  and  public  character  of  that  gentleman, 
had,  in  his  absence,been  alleged  against  him.  This  led  him 
to  solicit  an  inquiry  by  the  House,  into  the  nature  of  those 
allegations.  The  Senate  attended  this  inquiry,  and  their 
presence  gave  additional  solemnity  to  the  scene.  Several 
witnesses  were  examined,  and  Mr.  Lee  was  heard  in  his 
place.  His  conduct  had  been  pure,  and  his  fame  bright- 
ened by  this  ordeal.  The  Senate  withdrew:  and  the 
House  came  to  a  resolution,  in  consequence  of  which, 
the  speaker,  the  venerable  George  Wythe,  addressed 
Mr.  Lee  in  the  following  words: 

;  SIR — It  is  with  peculiar  pleasure  that  I  obey  this  com- 
mand of  the  House,  because  it  gives  me  an  opportunity, 
whilst  I  am  performing  an  act  of  duty  to  them,  to  per- 
form an  act  of  justice  to  yourself.  Serving  with  you  in 
Congress,  and  attentively  observing  your  conduct  there, 
I  thought  that  you  manifested  in  the  American  cause,  a 
zeal  truly  patriotic;  and,  as  far  as  I  could  judge,  exerted 
the  abilities  for  which  you  are  confessedly  distinguished, 
to  promote  the  good  and  prosperity  of  your  own  country 
in  particular,  and  of  the  United  States  in  general. 
That  the  tribute  of  praise  deserved,  may  reward  those 
who  do  well,  and  encourage  others  to  follow  your  exam- 
ple, the  House  have  come  to  this  resolution: 

'  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  House  be  given 
by  the  speaker,  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Esq.,  for  the 
faithful  services  he  has  rendered  his  country,  in  discharge 

VOL.  i. — B  b 


LIFE  AND  COKKESPOXUENCE 

of  his  duty,  as  one  of  the  delegates  from  this  state  in 
general  Congress.'* 

To  which,  Mr.  Lee  answered: 

(  MR.  SPEAKER — I  thank  the  House  for  this  instance 
of  candour  and  justice,  which  I  accept  the  more  willingly, 
as  my  conscience  informs  me,  it  was  not  undeserved.  I 
consider  the  approbation  of  my  country,  sir,  the  highest 
reward  for  faithful  services,  and  it  shall  be  my  constant 
call,  to  merit  that  approbation,  by  a  diligent  attention  to 
public  duty. 

My  thanks  are  particularly  due  to  you,  sir,  for  the 
obliging  manner  in  which  you  have  been  pleased  to 
signify  the  vote  of  the  House,  and  I  pray  you,  sir.  to 
receive  my  grateful  acknowledgments  accordingly.' 

The  result  of  this  investigation,  having  thus  honour- 
ably dispelled  the  clouds,  which,  for  a  moment,  obscured 
the  political  character  of  Mr.  Lee,  he  was  fully  restored 
to  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens.  In  the  course 
of  the  session,  George  Mason  having  resigned  his 
appointment  as  a  delegate,  Richard  Henry  Lee  was 
nominated,  and  appointed,  in  his  room.  The  thanks  of 
the  Senate  had,  in  the  most  flattering  manner,  been 
added  to  those  of  the  House  of  Delegates." 

Notwithstanding  this  honourable  testimony  of  respect 
and  gratitude,  which  the  Assembly  had  borne  to  Mr. 
Lee's  public  services,  those  men  who  had  injured,  con- 
tinued to  hate  him.  So  true  is  the  remark  of  Tacitus, 
"  proprium  est  humani  ingenii,  odisse,  quern  Iseseris." 
They  continued,  for  some  time,  to  slander  him  in  private, 
and  to  harass  him  by  their  votes,  at  the  annual  election 
of  delegates  to  Congress.  Although  they  never  after- 
wards succeeded  in  leaving  him  out,  yet,  on  one  occa- 

*  It  is  said,  that  Mr.  Wythe  shed  tears,  while  addressing  Mi- 
Lee. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

sion,  (1778)  they  so  far  succeeded  in  the  gratification  of 
their  malignity,  as  to  put  him  lower  in  the  delegation 
than  he  had  before  been,  or  ever  afterwards  was.  The 
following  letter  of  Patrick  Henry  to  Mr.  Lee,  alludes  to 
these  circumstances.  It  will  give  the  reader  some  idea 
of  the  vigour  and  vehemence  which  characterized  his 
speeches. 

"  WILLIAMSBUUG, 18th,  177& 

Mr  DEAR  SIR — Both  your  last  letters  came  to  hand 
to-day.     I  felt  for  you,  on  seeing  the  order  in  which  the 
balloting  placed  the  delegates  in  Congress.      It  is  an 
effect  of  that  rancorous  malice,  that  has  so  long  followed 
you,  through  that  arduous  path  of  duty,  which  you  have 
invariably  travelled,  since  America  resolved  to  resist  her 
oppressors.     Is  it  any  pleasure  to  you,  to  remark,  that 
at  the  same  sera  in  which  these  men  figure  against  you, 
public  spirit  seems  to  have  taken  its  flight  from  Virginia? 
It  is  too  much  the  case;  for  the  quota  of  our  troops  is 
not  half  made  up,  and  no  chance  seems  to  remain  for 
completing  it.     The  Assembly  voted  three  hundred -and 
fifty  horse,  and  two  thousand  men,  to  be  forthwith  raised, 
and  to  join  the  grand  army.    Great  bounties  are  offered, 
but  I  fear,  the  only  effect  will  be,  to  expose  our  state  to 
contempt,  for  I  believe  no  soldiers  will  enlist,  especially 
in  the  infantry.     Can  you  credit  it;  no  effort  was  made 
for  supporting,  or  restoring  public  credit!  I  pressed  it 
warmly  on  some,  but  in  vain.     This  is  the  reason  we 
get  no  soldiers.     We  shall  issue  fifty  or  sixty  thousand 
dollars  in  cash,  to  equip  the  cavalry,  and  their  time  is  to 
expire  at  Christmas.     I  believe,  they  will  not  be  in  the 
field  before  that  time.     Let  not  Congress  rely  on  Vir- 
ginia-far soldiers.     I  tell  you  my  opinion,  they  will  not 
be  got  here  until  a  different  spirit  prevails.     I  look  at 
the  past  condition  of  America,  as  at  a  dreadful  precipice, 
from  which  we  have  escaped,  by  means  of  the  generous 
French,  to  whom  I  will  be  everlastingly  bound  by  the 
most  heartfelt  gratitude.     But  I  must  mistake  matters, 
if  some  of  those  men  who  traduce  you,  do  not  prefer 


19b'  L1FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

the  offers  of  Britain.  You  will  have  a  different  game 
to  play  now,  with  the  commissioners.  How  comes  Go- 
vernor Johnson  there?  I  do  not  see  how  it  comports 
with  his  past  life. 

Surely  Congress  will  never  recede  from  our  French 
friends.  Salvation  to  America,  depends  upon  our  hold- 
ing fast  our  attachment  to  them.  I  shall  date  our  ruin 
from  the  moment  that  it  is  exchanged  for  any  thing  Great 
Britain  can  say,  or  do.  She  can  never  be  cordial  with 
us.  Baffled,  defeated,  disgraced  by  her  colonies,  she 
will  ever  meditate  revenge.  We  can  find  no  safety  but 
in  her  ruin,  or  at  least,  in  her  extreme  humiliation, 
which  has  not  happened,  and  cannot  happen,  until  she 
is  deluged  with  blood,  or  thoroughly  purged  by  a  revo- 
lution, which  shall  wipe  from  existence,  the  present  king 
with  his  connexions,  and  the  present  system,  with  those 
who  aid  and  abet  it.* 

For  God's  sake,  my  dear  sir,  quit  not  the  councils  of 
your  country,  until  you  see  us  for  ever  disjoined  from 
Great  Britain.  The  old  leaven  still  works.  The  flesh 
pots  of  Egypt,  are  still  savoury  to  degenerate  palates. 
Again  we  are  undone,  if  the  French  alliance  is  not  re- 
ligiously observed.  Excuse  my  freedom.  I  know  your 
love  to  our  country,  and  this  is  my  motive.  May  Hea- 
ven give  you  health  and  prosperity. 

I  am,  your's  affectionately, 

PATRICK  HENRY." 

Mr.  Lee  returned  to  Philadelphia,  in  August  '78,  and 

resumed  his  seat  in  Congress,  on  the  12th  of  that  month, 
^ 

*  This  was  written  in  moments  of  exasperation,  in  the  midst  of 
war  and  carnage.  No  man  more  thoroughly  detested  the  French 
jacobins,  who  tried  a  revolution  on  these  principles,  than  Patrick 
Henry.  In  the  enjoyment  of  independence  and  peace,  he  acknow- 
ledged that  England  could,  with  George  III.  at  her  head,  maintain 
the  relations  of  peace  and  amity.  He  lived  to  hear  of  the  reply 
of  George  III.,  when  introduced  to  the  first  minister  of  the  United 
States  to  his  court.  "  I  was  the  last  man,  sir,  in  my  kingdom,  to 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  your  country ;  I  shall  be  the 
last  one  in  it,  now,  to  question  it."  Considering  the  circum- 
stances, it  is  worth  all  the  splendid  sayings  recorded  of  kings. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  J97 

On  his  return  to  that  city,  he  had  the  pleasure  of  being 
introduced  to  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette,  and  the  Baron 
De  Kalb,  who  had  now  generously  proffered  their  ser- 
vices to  Congress.  With  both  of  these  distinguished 
foreigners  he  became  intimate,  and  the  friendship  be- 
tween them,  ever  afterwards  continued.  The  reader 
will  peruse  the  letters  of  the  former,  accompanying  this 
Memoir,  with  that  interest  which  his  name  inspires  in 
all  who  remember  his  early  and  warm  attachment  to 
America.  He  still  remembers  her  struggle,  and  rejoices 
in  her  prosperity. 

These  gentlemen  were  introduced  to  Mr.  Lee,  by 
Mr.  Carmichael,  secretary  to  the  commissioners  to 
France. 

<c  SIR — As  your  brother,  Arthur  Lee,  Esq.,  is  not  on 
the  spot,  I  take  the  liberty,  in  consequence  of  his  request, 
to  inform  you  of  his  health;  he  is  now  at  Burgos,  in 
Spain,  where  he  remains  in  consequence  of  the  request 
of  the  Spanish  ministry,  to  negotiate  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States.  From  what  he  writes  me,  I  hope  he 
will  at  least  get  some  money  on  our  account.  Your  bro- 
ther, the  Alderman,  as  I  am  just  informed  by  a  gentle- 
man from  London,  is  well.*  I  take  the  liberty  of  intro- 
ducing to  your  notice  and  protection  the  Marquis  La 
Fayette,  and  Baron  De  Kalb.  The  former  is  of  the 
first  distinction,  for  birth,  fortune,  and  family  here:  the 
other,  of  the  highest  reputation  in  the  service,  and 
strongly  recommended  by  the  Marshal  De  Broglio,  and 
the  Marshal  De  Mallabois.  The  former's  family,  are 
our  strong  support.  His  uncle  is  ambassador  at  the 
court  of  London,  and  from  his  representations,  we  hope 
to  bring  on  a  war,  much  sooner  than  it  would  otherwise 
happen.  I  hope  he,  (the  Marquis,)  will  have  every  rea- 
son to  think  favourably  of  the  country. 

*  William  Lee,  who  had  been  an  Alderman  in  London,  and 
who  was  a  commissioner  in  '79,  of  the  United  States,  to  the 
courts  of  Holland  and  Germany, 


198  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

T  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  much  respect,  your 
obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  CARMICHAEL, 

PAEIS,  MAIICH,  1777. 
Hon.  R.  H.  LEE." 

In  consequence  of  the  friendship  and  intimacy  which 
existed  between  Mr.  Lee,  and  the  Marquis  La  Fayette, 
the  French  officers  always  sought  his  acquaintance  and 
patronage.  The  gratitude  which  Mr.  Lee  felt  towards 
France  for  her  assistance,  and  to  the  French  officers 
who  volunteered  their  services  in  our  army,  made  him, 
on  all  occasions,  their  avowed  and  warm  friend.  He 
always  supported  their  application  for  commissions, 
wherever  they  possessed  merit  to  make  it  at  all  prudent 
to  employ  them.  The  author  has  found  among  Mr. 
Lee's  manuscripts,  many  communications  from  the 
French,  and  other  foreign  officers  who  had  come  to 
America.  They  seemed  to  have  conceived  for  him  the 
most  exalted  respect,  and  to  have  considered  him  a 
friend  not  of  America  only,  but  of  mankind. 

When  the  Baron  de  Kalb  returned  to  France,  before 
the  close  of  the  revolution,  he  found  in  Paris  two  sons 
of  Mr.  Lee,  who  had  been  sent  to  France  to  finish  their 
education.  He  took  these  youths  with  him  on  a  visit  to 
the  c'  Hotel  de  Noailles,"  the  residence  of  the  Marquis 
La  Fayette,  and  introduced  them  to  the  marchioness,  in 
these  words  :  "  I  have  the  honour  to  present  to  you. 
madam,  the  sons  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  America  ; 
the  friend  of  the  Marquis  La  Fayette,  and  of  all  the 
French  officers,  who  have  gone  to  America/'* 

In  the  year  1777,  there  were  numerous  applications 
made  to  Congress,  by  foreign  gentlemen  for  commis- 
sions in  the  army  f  n  several  instances,  Congress  found 
great  difficulty,  and  suffered  no  little  perplexity,  in  ex- 

*  The  author  received  this  anecdote  from  one  of  the  gentle- 
men, who  was  then  a  youth.  He  distinctly  recollects  the  words 
of  De  Kalb,  and  the  person  and  manners  of  the  marchioness- 
and  her  kindness  to  him  and  his  brother. 


OF  KICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  J99 

amining  their  claims  to  preference,  adjusting  their  rank, 
and  satisfying  their  wishes.  On  the  eleventh  of  Novem- 
ber, 1777,  Mr.  Lee  was  appointed  chairman  of  a  com- 
mittee, to  which  a  memorial  from  the  Chevalier  Dorset* 
and  from  the  officers  who  accompanied  Monsieur  Du 
Coudray  from  France,  and  the  applications  of  other 
foreign  gentlemen  attending  Congress  were  referred.* 
His  general  acquaintance  with  all  the  foreigners  who 
had  come  to  America  for  employment,  no  doubt,  occa- 
sioned his  appointment  as  chairman  of  this  committee. 

The  reader  will  find  in  the  Appendix,  number  nine, 
a  letter  from  the  brave  De  Kalb,  one  from  the  generous 
Count  Pulaski,  and  one  from  the  intriguing,  unfortu- 
nate, and  repentant  Conwoy. 

Mr.  Lee  was  the  member  through  whom  propositions 
were  made  to  Congress  from  foreign  gentlemen.  Two 
notes  from  the  French  Consul  have  been  found  among 
Mr.  Lee's  manuscripts,  offering  a  loan  of  a  million  of 
dollars,  on  behalf  of  several  persons  in  France,  to  the 
United  States.  One  of  them  is  in  the  following  words  : 

«  April  5th,  1779. 

Mr.  Holker,  presents    his  compliments  to  the  Ho- 
nourable Colonel  Lee,  and  begs  leave  to  observe  to  him, 
that  it  is  very  essential  for  the  interests  of  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  money,  which  he  has  taken  the  liberty  of 
offering  to  Congress,  as  a  loan,  that  Mr.  Holker  should 
know  whether  his  proposal  is  accepted  or  not,  so  as  he 
might  immediately  dispose  of  the  money  in  some  man- 
ner.    He  htpes  Mr.  Lee  will  take  the  matter  into  seri- 
ous consideration,  and  will  please  to  draw  up  his  report 
in  order  if  any  <hing  is  to  be  done,  to  retrieve  lost  time, 
every  minute  of  which  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
the  public  of  Amenta."     A  special  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  consider  fae  offer,  of  which  Mr.  Lee  was 
chairman.     The  second  note  is  addressed  to  him,  as 
chairman  of  the  special  committee,  and  states  the  sum 
offered  to  be  a  million  of  dollars. 

t  See  Jour,  p,  488. 


20Q  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Lee  resumed  his  seat  in  Congress, 
though  still  in  a  very  feeble  state  of  health,  he  was  call- 
ed to  constant  and  active  business,  in  consequence  of  his 
appointment  on  almost  every  committee  of  importance. 
On  August  sixteenth,  there  was  a  committee  of  five  ap- 
pointed, to  take  into  consideration  the  state  of  the  wes- 
tern frontiers,  and  the  northern  department,  which  was 
\)rdered  "  to  report  thereon,  with  all  convenient  de- 
spatch." On  this  committee  Mr.  Lee  was  placed.*  On 
the  twenty-second  of  October,  he  was  chosen  chairman 
of  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  Colonel 
George  Morgan  ;f  according  to  his  habit  of  performing 
the  labours  of  the  committees  on  which  he  acted,  he 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  a  gentleman  in  Pittsburg,  where 
Colonel  Morgan  commanded,  in  which  the  whole  sub- 
ject before  the  committee  is  stated  with  great  minute- 
ness, and  sundry  inquiries  made  respecting  the  conduct 
of  that  officer.  The  manuscript  letter  is  in  the  hand- 
writing of  Mr.  Lee.  A  few  days  before,  he  had  been 
chosen  one  of  a  committee  of  three,  to  consider  the  best 
method  of  preventing  intercourse  between  the  towns 
possessed  by  the  enemy  and  the  country. 

As  soon  as  the  intelligence  of  the  capture  of  General 
Burgoyne  had  reached  Congress,  it  was  "Resolved, 
That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed,  to  prepare  a 
recommendation  to  the  states,  to  set  apart  a  day  of  ihanks- 
giving,  for  the  signal  success  lately  obtained  Jver  the 
enemies  of  the  United  States." '  Mr.  Lee  served  on 
this  committee,  which  reported  the  following  day.| 

While  every  reader  acquainted  with  thf  proceedings 
of  that  illustrious  body,  the  continental  (Congress,  must 
admire  the  wisdom  of  their  measures,  tbe  Christian  rea- 
der must  contemplate,  with  delight  and  veneration,  the 
fervent  and  exalted  piety  evinced  w  their  proclamations, 
recommending  days  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  thanks- 
giving. In  point  of  composition,  too,  they  are  not  un- 
worthy of  those  men  who  penned  the  celebrated  state 

*  See  Jour.  p.  333,  t  Ib.  p.  434.  t  Ib-  P-  465. 


OF  RICHARD  «ENRY  LEE.  201 

papers  of  1 774-5.  The  wise  and  great  men  of  those  days 
were  not  ashamed  publicly  to  confess  the  name  of  our  bkss- 
ed  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ!  in  behalf  of  the  peo- 
ple, as  their  representatives  and  rulers,  they  acknowledged 
the  sublime  doctrine  of  his  mediation!  He,  "  whose 
name  is  above  every  name;"  at  which  "  every  knee  shall 
bow;"  who  is  "  head  of  all  principalities,  and  powers, 
and  dominions;5'  to  whom  "angels,  and  authorities,  and 
powers,  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  are  made  subject,"  exer- 
cises a  gracious  and  mediatorial  providence  over  the  af- 
fairs of  nations  as  well  as  over  the  destiny  of  individuals! 
Hence  result  the  propriety,  and  duty  too,  of  those  in  au- 
thority, to  acknowledge  the  superintendence  of  His  pro- 
vidence over  the  nation,  and  to  return  to  Him  their  thanks 
for  national  blessings.  For  the  omission  of  this  dutj, 
nations  suffer  "  through  all  their  borders."  Rulers  be^ 
ing  responsible  to  the  people,  this  ordination  of  God  is 
just,  and  particularly  just  in  the  case  of  republics,  in 
which  the  popular  opinions  and  wishes  can  be  enforced. 
The  following  proclamation,  for  sentiment  and  style, 
is  worthy  of  deliberate  perusal.  It  is  believed  to  be  the 
production  of  Mr.  Lee's  pen.  It  partakes  of  the  elo- 
quence of  his  style,  and  of  the  fervour  of  his  mind.  It 
does  not,  however,  breathe  a  holier  spirit,  than  that  which 
animated  the  breast  of  S.  Adams,  who  was  also  one  of 
the  committee  that  reported  it. 

"NOVEMBER  1,  1777. 
Done  in  Congress. 

Forasmuch  as  it  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  all  men^ 
to  adore  the  superintending  providence  of  Almighty  God; 
to  acknowledge,  with  gratitude,  their  obligations  to  Him 
for  benefits  received,  and  to  implore  such  further  blessings 
as  they  stand  in  need  of;  and  it  having  phased  Him,  inhis 
abundant  mercy,  not  only  to  continue  to  us  the  innume- 
rable bounties  of  his  common  providence,  but  also  to  smile 
upon  us  in  the  prosecution  of  a  just  and  necessa&y  war, 
for  the  independence  and  establishment  of  our  unalien- 
able  rights  and  liberties;  particularly  in  that  He  hath 

VOL.  i. — c  c 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

been  pleased,  in  so  great  a  measure,  to  prosper  tlie  means 
used  for  the  support  of  our  arms,  and  to  crown  them  with 
the  most  signal  success:  It  is  therefore  recommended  to  the 

Thursday,  the  eighteenth  December  next,  for  solemn 
thanksgiving  and  praise;  that,  with  one  heart  and  one 
voice,  the  people  may  express  the  feelings  of  their  hearts, 
and  consecrate  themselves  to  the  service  of  their  Divine 
Benefactor!  and  together  with  their  sincere  acknowkdg- 
ments  and  offerings,  they  may  join  the  penitent  confession 
of  their  manifold  sins,  whereby  they  have  forfeited  every 
favour,  and  their  earnest  and  humble  supplication,  that 
it  may  please  God,  through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ, 
mercifully  to  forgive  and  blot  them  out  of  remembrance; 
that  it  may  please  Him,  graciously  to  afford  his  blessings 
on  the  government  of  these  states  respectively,  and  to  pros- 
per the  public  council  of  the  ivhole;  to  inspire  our  com- 
manders, both  by  sea  and  land,  and  all  under  them,  with 
that  wisdom  and  fortitude  which  may  render  them  fit  in- 
struments, under  the  providence  of  Mmighty  God,  to  se- 
cure for  these  United  States  the  greatest  of  all  blessings, 
independence  and  peace;  that  it  may  please  Him  to  pros- 
per the  trade  and  manufactures  of  the  people,  and  the 
labours  of  the  husbandman,  that  our  land  may  yield  its 
increase;  to  take  schools  and  seminaries  of  education,  so 
necessary  for  the  cultivation  of  the  principles  of  true 
liberty,  virtue,  and  piety,  under  his  nurturing  hand;  and 
to  prosper  the  means  of  religion  for  the  promotion  and 
enlargement  of  that  kingdom,  which  consisteth  "in  righ- 
teousness, peace,  and  joy,  in  the  Holy  Ghost!"* 

On  the  3d  of  September,  '77,  Colonel  Wilkinson, 
according  to  order,  attended  Congress,  and  laid  before 
it,  the  original  papers  relating  to  the  convention  of  Sa- 
ratoga. On  that  day,  a  motion  was  made  "  for  direct- 
ing the  future  operations  of  General  Gates."  Mr.  Lee 
was  chairman  of  the  committee,  to  which  was  referred 
the  subject  of  the  motion.f  It  is  well  known,  that  there 

*  See  Journals,  p.  467.  t  Ib.  p.  471- 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  203 

was  some  difficulty  respecting  the  ratification  of  the  con- 
vention of  Saratoga.  The  question,  how  far  the  reign- 
ing power  is  bound  to  ratify  a  convention  made  by  a 
commander,  has  long  been  much  agitated  by  writers  on 
the  law  of  nations.  It  is  a  question  not  without  consi- 
derable difficulty.  On  the  6th  instant,  the  convention 
of  Saratoga  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  four,  on 
which  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen.* 

On  the  10th  instant,  several  propositions  to  add  to  the 
articles  of  confederation,  were  laid  before  Congress. 
This  was  a  subject  of  vital  importance  to  the  union  of 
the  states,  and  one  which  required  great  caution  and 
wisdom.  The  states  were  jealous  of  their  rights,  and 
their  particular  interests.  On  that  day,  it  was  Resolved, 
"that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed,  to  take  these 
propositions  into  consideration,  and  to  report  such  as 
they  may  judge  proper  to  be  added,  not  altering  those 
already  agreed  on."  Mr.  Lee  was  one  of  this  commit- 
tee, f  This  committee  reported  on  the  following  day; 
and  the  consideration  of  the  report,  postponed  until  the 
thirteenth.  It  was  on  this  day  Resolved,  "  that  the  ar- 
ticles reported  be  adopted;5'  and  it  was  Resolved,  "  that 
a  committee  be  appointed  to  revise  and  arrange  the  arti- 
cles of  confederation,  and  to  prepare  a  circular  letter  to 
the  states,  to  accompany  the  said  articles."  Mr.  Lee 
was  the  chairman  of  this  committee.J 

It  has  been  mentioned,  that  Mr.  Lee's  health  had  not 
been  completely  restored  by  his  return  to  Virginia,  in 
July.  The  fatigue  of  close  attention  to  business,  again 
forced  him  to  remit  public  cares.  On  the  15th,  it  was 
ordered,  "  that  Mr.  Richard  Henry  Lee,  have  leave  of 
absence,  for  the  recovery  of  his  health."  Notwithstand- 
ing, however,  the  daily  injury  to  his  health,  which  Mr. 
Lee  experienced,  the  deep  interest  he  took  in  the  public 
welfare,  and  his  conviction  of  the  increasing  importance 
of  the  measures  of  Congress,  still  kept  him  a  laborious 
member.  On  the  19th  instant,  the  reader  will  find  him 

*  Sec  Jour.  p.  489.         f  Ib.  p.  497.        f  Ib. 


AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

in  Congress,  acting  on  the  most  arduous  committees 
until  the  4th  of  December.  Thus,  several  days  after 
he  obtained  leave  of  absence,  he  was  chairman  of  a 
committee  of  three,  to  which  were  referred,  "  the  return 
of  the  ordinance,  &c.  taken  from  the  enemy,  enclosed 
in  General  Gates'  letter  of  the  10th,  and  a  letter  from 
the  council  of  safety  of  New  York."*  On  the  second 
of  December,  a  committee  of  three  were  appointed,  to 
recommend  to  the  several  states,  to  call  in  the  paper 
money  issued  by  then),  under  the  authority  of  the  king 
of  Great  Britain.  Of  this  committee,  Mr.  Lee  was 
chairman.f  On  the  4th  instant,  a  letter  from  General 
Washington,  and  one  from  General  Varnunr,  were  laid 
before  Congress,  and  referred  to  a  committee  of  five,  of 
which  Mr.  Lee  was  chairman.J 

The  state  of  Mr.  Lee's  health  now  compelled  him 
to  return  to  Virginia,  and  to  relinquish  for  a  time,  all 
public  pursuits. 

The  attention  of  Mr.  Lee,  while  in  Congress,  was  not 
confined  to  the  business  of  that  body.  His  active  mind 
was  deeply  engaged  in  all  public  concerns,  and  was  con-, 
stantly  considering  what  could  be  done  most  conducive 
to  the  public  good.  Among  other  instances  of  this, 
which  might  be  mentioned,  the  following  may  be  here 
related  :  while  he  was  still  in  Congress  at  York  in 
Pennsylvania,  there  passed  through  that  place  a  serjeant 
and  eight  men,  whose  term  of  enlistment  had  expired. 
When  Mr.  Lee  heard  of  this  circumstance,  he  hired  a 

*  On  the  third  of  December,  the  committee  on  Indian  affairs, 
reported  a  speech  to  be  made  to  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians.  It 
was  written  by  Mr.  Lee.  It  gives  a  pleasing  instance  of  the  ease 
with  which  he  could  adopt  his  eloquence  to  the  bold  and  figura- 
tive style  of  those  orators  of  nature.  After  reproaching  them 
for  their  ingratitude  to  the  United  States,  and  expressing  aston- 
ishment at  their  late  conduct,  it  declares,  it  would  have  been  as 
impossible  to  have  expected  it,  as  to  have  expected,  "  that  the 
mole  should  overturn  the  vast  mountains  of  the  Alleghany,  or 
that  the  birds  of  the  air,  should  drink  up  the  waters  of  the  Ni- 
agara." See  the  whole  speech  at  p.  555,  vol.  iii.  Journals, 

f  Jour.  p.  518—551.  J  Ib.  p.  56 \t 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  I.EE. 

man  to  go  after  them  with  a  letter  to  the  Serjeant  and 
men,  persuading  them  to  return  to  the  army,  and  pledg- 
ing Mr.  Lee's  honour,  to  pay  them  the  enlistment  money 
and  the  cost  of  the  conveyance  of  their  baggage.  He 
succeeded  in  getting  them  to  return.  While  he  was  in 
Congress,  engrossed  with  its  business,  he  prepared  a  % 
plan  of  defence  of  the  coasts  of  Virginia,  which  received 
great  eulogium  from  the  military  and  naval  characters 
of  the  day.  As  he  was  passing  through  Maryland  on 
his  return  to  Virginia,  he  heard  that  persons  on  both 
shores  of  the  Potomac,  carried  on  considerable  traffic 
with  the  British  ships  of  war  in  the  Chesapeake  Bay. 
He  wrote  from  the  tavern  in  which  he  was  lodging  for 
the  night,  letters  to  the  governors  of  the  states  of  Virgi- 
nia and  Maryland,  informing  them  of  this  circumstance, 
and  devising  a  method  by  which  this  intercourse  might 
be  prevented.  The  author  has  the  manuscript  copy  of 
those  letters  also. 

It  was  thought  that  the  following  letter  from  Arthur 
Lee  to  General  Washington,  written  during  the  year 
in  which  the  reader  has  been  contemplating  Mr.  Lee's 
public  career,  would  add  a  pleasing  variety  to  the  nar- 
ration of  this  Memoir.  Mr.  Arthur  Lee  was  for  a  time 
an  accredited  commissioner  of  the  United  States,  to  the 
court  of  Berlin.  It  contains  an  interesting  anecdote  of 
General  Washington,  and  informs  us  too,  of  the  opinion 
of  the  military  men  of  Europe,  of  his  talent  as  a  gene- 
ral* The  manuscript  copy  of  it  was  given  by  the  writer 
to  his  brother  R.  H.  Lee. 

BERLIN,  June  15th,  1777* 
To  Kis  Excellency  GENERAL  WASHINGTON. 

DEAR  SIR — It  has  been  with  uncommon  satisfaction, 
that  I  have  seen  you  in  a  situation  in  which  I  long 
hoped  you  would  be,  if  we  were  forced  to  dispute  the 
great  question,  which,  in  my  own  opinion,  I  was  satisfied 

*  This  letter  too,  may  serve  to  prove  further,  the  incorrectness 
of  the  charge  contained  in  Johnson's  life  of  Green,  that  the  "  Lees 
of  Virginia  were  inimical  to  Genera*  Washington.  Full  proof 
to  the  same  effect,  can  be  given  in  relation  to  F.  L  Lee. 


£06  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

would  happen.  I  never  forgot  your  declaration,  when 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  at  your  house  in  1768,  4t  that 
you  were  ready  to  take  your  musket  upon  your  shoulder 
whenever  your  country  called  upon  you."  I  heard  that 
declaration  with  great  satisfaction:  I  remember  it  with 
the  same,  and  have  seen  it  verified  to  your  immortal 
honour  and  the  eminent  advantage  of  the  illustrious 
cause  in  which  you  are  contending. 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  assuring  you  that  your  conduct 
against  General  Howe,  has  been  highly  approved  by  mili- 
tary men,  here  and  in  France.  That  approbation  has 
been  increased  in  those  to  whom  I  have  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  stating  the  great  inferiority  of  the  troops  you 
commanded,  to  those  of  the  enemy,  in  number  and  in 
every  provision  for  war. 

The  Prussian  army,  which  amounts  to  two  hundred 
and  twenty-eight  thousand,  are  disciplined  by  force  of 
hourly  exercise,  and  move  with  a  rapidity  and  order 
which  are  certain  to  succeed  against  any  troops  in  Eu- 
rope.    When  the  king  reviews  any  army  of  forty  thou- 
sand men,  not  a  man  or  horse,  the  former  in  full  march, 
the  latter  in  full  gallop,  is  discernibly  out  of  line.     The 
regiments  are  in  the  field  every  day,  where,  beside  the 
general  exercise,  every  man  is  filed  off  singly,  and  passes 
in  review  ^before  different  officers,  who  beat  his  limbs 
into  the  position  they  think  proper,  so  that  the  man  ap- 
pears to  be  purely  a  machine  in  the  hands  of  a  workman. 
The  improvements  of  utility  which  I  have  been  able  to 
note,  are  these;  the  ramrods  are  of  double  thickness  all 
the  way,  and  enlarged  as  ours  are  at  one  end.     The  ad- 
vantage is  to  ram  down  the  charge,  so  that  they  do  not 
turn  the  rod,  but  raising  it  to  the  muzzle,  they  plunge 
the  lower  end  into  the  barrel,  and  then  raising  it  up, 
return  it  straight,  without  the  necessity  of  turning  it  as 
formerly.     This  saves  a  great  deal  of  awkward  motion, 
and  of  time.     The  mouths  of  the  loops  are  very  large,  so 
that  there  is  much  more  readiness  in  hitting  them  than 
formerly;  which  also  ^xpedites  the  important  business 
of  charging.      The  musket,  .to  compensate  for  this 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  207 

Increase  of  weight,  is  two  inches  shorter  in  the  barrel, 
When  the  men  present,  instead  of  levelling  their  fire- 
locks, they  are  taught  to  slant  them  down,  so  that  a  point 
blank  shot  would  apparently  strike  the  ground  at  about 
ten  yards  distance.  This  depression  is  found  necessary 
to  counteract  the  elevation,  which  the  act  of  firing  inevi- 
tably gives  the  musket;  and  even  when  a  ball  strikes  the 
ground,  it  generally  rises,  and  may  do  execution,  but  if 
directed  too  high  it  is  lost  entirely.  These  are  altera- 
tions which  seem  to  me  of  great  utility,  and  I  wish  they 
may  appear  so  to  you. 

It  is  my  intention  to  write  a  history  of  this  civil  con- 
tention. The  share  you  have  had  in  it,  will  form  an 
interesting  and  important  part.  It  will  be  in  your  power 
to  preserve  a  variety  of  material  papers  and  anecdotes 
for  such  a  work.  May  I  venture  to  hope  that  you  will 
think  me  so  far  worthy  of  your  confidence  as  to  preserve 
them  for  me?  Dubious  parts  of  history  can  be  cleared 
only  by  such  documents;  and  we  shall  want  every  au- 
thentic record  to  vouch  against  the  forgeries  which  will 
be  offered  to  the  world. 

The  resources  of  our  enemy  are  almost  annihilated  in 
Germany,  and  their  last  resort  is  to  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics of  Ireland.  They  have  already  experienced  their 
readiness  to  go,  every  man  of  a  regiment  raised  there 
last  year,  having  obliged  them  to  ship  him  off  tied;  and 
certainly  they  will  desert  more  than  other  troops  what- 
ever. They  themselves  rely  on  the  present  campaign. 
They  have  no  probability  of  reinstating  their  army,  ex- 
cept with  Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland;  should  this 
campaign  materially  diminish  it,  I  have  a  plan  for  ren- 
dering that  of  little  effect,  which,  I  hope,  will  succeed. 
Should  you  keep  your  ground,  the  question  of  acknow- 
ledging your  independence,  will  become  very  serious, 
next  winter,  with  the  European  Powers.  But  until  the 
events  of  this  summer  are  decided,  their  conduct  will 
remain  the  same,  and  no  open  acts  of  interference  will 
take  place. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect,  yours,  &c.  &c. 

ARTHUR  LEE/" 


OQ3  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

Mr.  Lee  was  unable  to  return  to  Congress,  before 
the  first  of  May,  1778.  He  had  been,  in  the  preceding 
April,  re-elected,  from  Westmoreland  county,  a  member 
of  the  Assembly  of  Virginia.  On  the  first  of  May,  he 
took  his  seat  in  Congress;  and  on  that  day,  he  was 
chosen  chairman  of  a  committee  of  three,  "  to  report 
proper  instructions  to  the  commissioners  of  the  United 
States  at  foreign  courts."*  On  the  4th  instant,  a  let- 
ter from  General  Washington  was  read,  and  referred  to 
a  committee  of  three;  of  which  committee,  Mr.  Lee 
was  chairman.!  On  this  day,  despatches  having  arrived, 
bearing  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  France,  a  committee 
of  three  was  appointed,  to  prepare  proper  forms  of  rati- 
fication of  the  treaty  with  his  most  Christian  majesty; 
of  this  committee,  Mr.  Lee  was  chairman. J  It  was 
highly  expedient,  to  inform  the  people  of  America,  of 
the  treaty  of  alliance  with  France,  by  an  address,  which 
should  be  calculated  to  inspire  them  with  fresh  hope  and 
vigour.  On  the  sixth  instant,  it  was  Resolved,  "That 
a  committee  of  three  be  appointed,  to  prepare  an  address 
to  the  inhabitants  of  these  states,  on  the  present  situation 
of  public  affairs ;"  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  chairman. §  On 
the  eighth  instant,  this  committee  reported  an  address, 
which  may  be  read  in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Journals, 
page  267.  It  is  an  eloquent  production,  and  admirably 
well  fitted,  to  arouse  and  inspirit.  The  author  has  no 
further  proof  that  it  was  written  by  Mr.  Lee,  than  that 
to  be  derived  from  its  style,  and  to  be  inferred  from  the 
fact,  that  he  almost  in  every  case,  prepared  the  papers 
of  committees  on  which  he  acted,  especially,  as  chair- 
man. 

On  the  thirteenth  instant,  a  letter  was  received  from 
General  Washington,  enclosing  one  from  General  Sir 
William  Howe,  respecting  an  exchange  of  prisoners; 
which  letters  were  referred  to  a  committee  of  three,  of 
which  Mr.  Lee  was  one.||  On  the  next  day,  a  memorial 

*  Jour.  p.  251-2.  f  Ib.  p   255.  J  Ib  p.  257, 

§  Ib   p.  265.  j|  Ib.  p.  285. 


OF  RICHARD  HENKY  LEE. 

from  sundry  inhabitants  of  Nova  Scotia,  was  received, 
and  referred  to  a  committee  of  three,  of  which  Mr.  Lee 
was  chairman.*  On  the  seventeenth,  a  number  of  inter- 
cepted letters  were  laid  before  Congress;  whereupon,  it 
was  Resolved,  "That  they  be  referred  to  a  committee 
of  three,  and  that  the  said  committee  be  empowered  to 
take  such  steps,  and  pursue  such  measures,  as  they 
judge  necessary  for  the  interests  of  the  United  States;" 
Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  chairman  of  this  committee.f  On 
the  twenty-sixth,  a  memorial  from  the  field  officers, 
prisoners  on  parole  on  Long  Island,  was  received,  and 
referred  to  a  committee  of  three,  of  which  Mr.  Lee 
was  chosen  chairman.!  On  the  third  of  June,  the  com-- 
mittee  to  whom  a  letter  of  General  Washington  had  been 
referred,  reported;  and,  after  debate,  their  report  was 
re-committed,  ami  two  members  were  added  to  the  com- 
mittee; one  of  the  members  added,  was  Mr.  Lee.§  Con^ 
gress,  on  the  fifth,  resumed  the  consideration  of  the  re- 
port of  a  committee,  to  which  had  been  referred,  a 
fetter  from  General  Wadesworth,  commissary  general  of 
purchases.  After  debate,  it  was  re-committed,  and  two 
members  were  added;  one  of  which  was  Mr.  Lee.||  On 
the  sixth,  a  letter  from  General  Washington  was  receiv- 
ed, enclosing  letters  from  Lord  Howe  and  General 
Glmton,  together  with  three  acts  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment, which  were  referred  to  a  committee  of  four,  of 
which  l^r.  Lee  was  one.H  On  the  ninth,  he  was  chosen 
chairman  of  a  committee,  to  which  were  referred  a  let- 
ter of  Gentral  Washington,  and  on  the  same  day,  one 
of  a  commute^  to  which  were  referred  letters  from  Ge- 
neral Gates.** 

Lord  North's"  Conciliatory  Propositions"  were  made 
known  to  Congress,  by  the  letters  of  Lord  Howe  and 
General  Clinton.  General  Washington  informed  Con- 
gress, that  passports  were  required  by  Lord  Howe  for 
the  commissioners,  under  the  act  of  Parliament  contain- 

*  Journal,  p.  285.        t  Ibid.  p.  291.         \  Ibid.  p.  309. 
§  Ib.  p.  326.    I)  Ib.  p;  330.     f  Ib.  p;  331.     **  Ib.  p,  335, 
VOL.  I.— D  d 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

ing  the  conciliatory  propositions.  This  letter  from 
General  Washington,  was  referred  to  the  committee 
appointed  to  consider  those  propositions,  of  which  it 
has  been  mentioned,  that  Mr.  Lee  was  chairman.  While 
these  highly  important  papers  were  yet  before  this  select 
committee,  a  letter  from  General  Green,  quartermaster 
general,  was  received,  and  referred  to  a  committee  of 
three;  Mr.  Lee  was  one  of  this  committee.*  On  the 
sixteenth,  several  letters,  and  other  papers,  were  receiv- 
ed from  the  British  commissioners,  which  were  referred 
to  a  committee  of  five;  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  chairman 
of  the  committee,  which,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same 
day  on  which  it  was  appointed,  reported  a  draught  of 
an  answer  to  be  given  to  the  commission  ere. f  The 
author  has  the  original  manuscript  of  this  draught,  in 
Mr.  Lee's  own  hand  writing.  It  corresponds  exactly 
with  the  letter,  as  it  is  found  in  the  journal,  page  353, 
volume  four.  On  the  nineteenth,  a  letter  was  received 
from  John  Brown,  Esq.,  president  of  the  board  of  war, 
with  a  manifest  of  the  cargo  of  the  "  Lady  of  Mount 
Carmel,  and  St.  Antonio."  This  letter,  &c.,  were  re- 
ferred to  a  committee  of  three,  of  which  Mr.  Lee  was 
chairman.! 

It  has  been  seen,  that  Congress  had  appointed  a  com- 
mittee, to  make  such  additions  to  the  articles  of  con* 
federation,  as  seemed  to  be  necessary.     Some  rf  the 
states,  to  which  these  additions  had  been  proposed  for 
their  adoption  or  rejection,  had  rejected  so0e  of  the 
articles  proposed  by  Congress,  and  suggested  others  in 
their  room.  After  much  debate,  on  the  twrfity-fifth,  the 
subject  was  finally   closed,  by  the  consent  of  all  the 
states  to  the  articles  of  confederation,  a?  then  amended, 
and  a  committee  of  three  was  appointed,  to  prepare  a 
form  of  solemn  ratification.     Mr.  Lee  was  chairman  of 
this  committee,  and  prepared  the  form.§    He  has  been 
always  honoured  as  one  to  whom  the  states  owed  the 
greatest  debt  of  gratitude,  on  the  subject  of  their  con- 

*  See  Jour.  p.  340.     f  Ib.  $.  346.    \  Ib.  p.  359.     §  Ib.  p.  3a2-3. 


OF  RICHAKD  ^HENRY  LEE.  g  \  \ 

federation  and  union,  daring  the  trying  period  of  the 
revolution.  He  permitted  no  sectional  jealousies  to  blind 
and  pervert  his  judgment  Looking  upon  all  the  states 
to  be  equally  interested  in  the  great  object  for  which 
they  were  contending,  and  feeling  for  all  their  inhabit- 
ants, the  attachment  of  a  fellow  citizen,  he  deprecated 
the  indulgence  of  distrust  and  jealousy  of  each  other, 
and  never  failed  to  denounce  the  man  who  endeavoured 
to  awaken  such  baneful  passions. 

On  the  8th  of  July,  Mr.  Lee  was  one  of  a  committee 
to  which  was  referred,  letters  from  Governors  Trumbull 
and  Livingston,  together  with  many  other  papers  of  im- 
portance.* On  the  ninth,  he  was  chosen  chairman  of 
a  committee  to  draught  a  circular  letter  to  those  states, 
which  had  not  yet  ratified  the  confederation,  according  to 
the  form  prescribed  on  the  report  of  the  committee  of 
the  twenty-fifth  ultimo.  On  the  eleventh,  he  was  chair- 
man of  a  committee,  whose  duty  was  strictly  u  dry  de- 
tail of  business."  From  this  period,  to  the  fourth  of 
August,  he  was  on  many  similar  committees.  On  that 
day,  he  was  made  one  of  a  committee  of  three,  to  which 
was  referred  a  letter  received  from  General  Washington 
on  military  affairs.  On  the  same  day,  he  was  one  of  a 
committee  of  three,  to  which  a  memorial  and  petition  on 
matters  of  dry  business  were  referred;  and,  the  commit- 
tee was  ordered  to  report  specially. 

Mr.  Lee  was  elected  again,  on  the  nineteenth  of  Au- 
gust, by  the  Assembly  of  Virginia,  a  delegate  to  Con- 
gress, for  the  term  of  one  year. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  August,  a  letter  was  received 
from  General  Washington,  enclosing  the  proceedings  of 
a  court  martial  on  Major  General  Lee,  and  also,  a  let- 
ter from  Major  General  Phillips,  respecting  the  conven- 
tion-army in  Canada.  It  was  Resolved,  "that  the  said 
papers,  and  so  much  of  General  Washington's  letter  as 
refers  to  the  letter  of  General  Phillips,  be  referred  to  a 
committee  of  three."  Mr.  Lee  was  one  of  this  commit- 

*  See  Journal,  p.  398> 


212  LIF'E  AKD  CORRESPONDENCE 

tee.  On  the  same  day,  a  letter  was  received  from  the 
council  of  Pennsylvania,  containing  a  request  from  the 
council,  and  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  to 
have  a  conference  with  a  committee  of  Congress,  on  the 
subject  of  fortifying  the  river  Delaware.  A  committee 
was  accordingly  appointed,  of  which,  Mr.  Lee  was 
chairman.  A  letter  from  the  Baron  De  Kalb  was  re- 
ceived, and  on  the  twenty-second  instant,  the  military 
subjects  contained  in  it,  were  referred  to  a  committee. 
Mr.  Lee  was  chosen  chairman  of  this  committee.  On 
the  twenty-seventh,  a  committee  of  five,  "  to  consider 
the  state  of  the  finances,  and  report  thereon  from  time 
to  time."  Of  this  very  important  committee,  Mr.  Lee 
was  one. 

On  the  fourth  of  September,  it  was  Resolved,  "  that 
the  committee  of  arrangement,  to  which,  the  letter  of 
the  eleventh  ultimo,  from  the  council  of  war  of  Rhode 
Island  was  referred,  be  discharged,  and  it  be  referred  to 
a  committee  of  three,  of  which,  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen 
one.  On  the  seventh,  a  letter  from  Major  General  Ar- 
nold was  received,  and  referred  to  a  committee  of  five,  of 
which,  Mr.  Lee  was  chairman.  On  the  ninth,  a  letter 
from  the  Count  D'Estaign,  was  received  and  referred  to 
a  committee  of  four,  which  was  directed  to  prepare  an 
answer.  Of  this  committee  Mr.  Lee  was  chairman. 
On  the  tenth,  a  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to 
confer  with  the  minister  plenipotentiary  to  France,  re- 
specting the  future  operations  of  the  fleet,  under  the 
command  of  the  Count  D'Estaign.  Mr.  Lee  was  chosen 
ehairman  of  this  committee.  On  the  seventeenth,  the 
report  of  a  committee  on  the  arrangement  of  the  trea- 
sury, was  reconsidered  and  referred  to  a  committee  of 
five,  of  which,  Mr.  Lee  was  one. 

On  the  fifth  of  October,  it  was  Resolved,  "  that  a  com- 
mittee of  four  be  appointed  to  confer  with  the  supreme 
executive  council  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
best  means  of  repelling  the  enemy,  should  the  British 
commander  discover  any  intention  of  again  attacking 
Philadelphia."  Mr.  Lee  was  one  of  this  committee. 


OP  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  213 

On  the  thirteenth,  he  acted  on  a  committee,  to  which 
were  referred,  a  letter  from  the  Marquis  La  Fayette, 
and  one  from  General  Washington,  both  of  which  were 
written  on  military  affairs.  On  the  same  day,  he  was 
one  of  a  committee  to  which  were  referred,  a  report 
from  the  committee  on  finance,  and  a  proposed  amend- 
ment. On  the  following  day,  he  was  chairman  of  a 
committee,  to  which  a  letter  from  the  Count  D'Estaign, 
to  the  honourable  Seur  Gerard,  and  sundry  other  let- 
ters accompanying  it,  was  referred.  On  the  nineteenth 
instant,  a  letter  from  the  commissary  of  purchases,  was 
read  and  referred  to  a  committee  of  three,  of  which 
Mr.  Lee  was  chairman.  On  the  twenty-sixth,  it  was 
Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed,  to 
superintend  the  publication  of  such  matters,  as  relate 
to  the  disputes,  petitions,  and  negotiations  to,  and  with 
Great  Britain,  and  such  notes  and  explanations  thereon, 
as  to  them  may  seem  proper.  Of  this  committee,  Mr. 
Lee  was  chairman. 

Mr.  Lee's  strength  again  failed  him,  under  the  labours 
which  duty  and  love  of  country,  called  him  to  undergo. 
On  the  first  of  November,  he  was  compelled  to  ask 
leave  of  absence.  But,  even  when  his  body  was  con- 
fined to  his  house  by  the  stern  restraints  of  disease,  his 
mind  was  still  active;  it  still  studied  the  interests  of  the 
nation,  and  watched  every  movement  and  device  of  its 
external  and  internal  enemies.  This  unwearied  activity 
of  mind,  had  become  a  well  known  characteristic  of 
Mr.  Lee.  Hence,  the  reader  will  find,  by  referring  to 
the  Journal  of  the  1st  of  November,  '78,  that  after  leave 
of  absence  had  been  given  him,  it  was  ordered,  "  that 
the  memorial  of  Captain  Harper,  and  the  papers  rela- 
tive thereto,  be  delivered  to  R.  H.  Lee."  These  pa- 
pers related  to  the  proceedings  of  one  of  the  courts  of 
admiralty,  on  a  libel  against  the  schooner  Liberty,  and 
the  property  on  board  of  it.  These  papers  had  been  re- 
ferred to  a  committee  of  three,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of 
August,  which  had  reported.  The  report  was  post- 
poned, and  now,  on  the  first  of  November,  all  the  papers 


AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

were  ordered  to  be  delivered  to  Mr.  Lee,  on  his  return 
to  Virginia.  Mr.  Lee's  mental  energy  never  yielded  to 
the  hand  of  disease,  nor  failed  with  the  decline  of  his 
body.  Hence,  Dr.  Ru&h,  in  speaking  of  the  extraordi- 
nary activity  of  Mr.  Lee's  mind,  even  when  his  body 
was  enfeebled,  said,  "  his  mind  was  like  a  sword,  which 
was  too  large  for  its  scabbard." 

An  anecdote  may  here  be  related  of  Mr.  Lee,  which 
serves  to  show  the  unceasing  interest  he  took,  in  the 
public  affairs,  when  in  the  retirement  of  private  life. 
When  intelligence  reached  Westmoreland,  of  the  ar- 
rival of  the  French  fleet,  under  the  Count  De  Grasse, 
off  Norfolk,  Mr.  Lee  was  at  home.  He  immediately 
formed  the  idea  of  supplying  it  with  fresh  provisions, 
which  he  knew  would  be  grateful  to  both  seamen  and 
officers,  after  so  long  a  voyage.  He  went  in  person 
through  the  county,  and  procured  a  subscription  of  such 
articles,  as  each  person  could  most  conveniently  give,  of 
live  cattle,  poultry,  butter,  vegetables,  &c.  He  himself 
largely  contributed.  He  succeeded  in  procuring  provi- 
sion sufficient,  to  load  a  schooner,  which  he  freighted 
and  sent,  with  a  letter,  to  the  Count.* 

*  See  the  Count's  reply,  Appendix  No.  10. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 


CHAPTER  IX. 

IT  was  thought  to  be  due  to  the  memory  and  reputa- 
tion of  Mr.  Lee,  to  give  a  sketch  of  his  services  and 
labours  in  the  Continental  Congress,  during  the  most 
difficult  and  gloomy  periods  of  the  revolutionary  struggle. 
These  have  been  undervalued  in  the  present  age.  To 
enable  the  reader  to  estimate  his  character,  he  has  been 
introduced  with  Mr.  Lee,  into  the  hall  of  legislation, 
and  led  with  him  to  the  business  of  committees.  He  has 
been  asked  to  contemplate  him  as  a  statesman,  and  a 
man  of  business,  because  it  seemed  meet  and  just,  that 
a  republic,  whose  foundation  he  so  ably  and  success- 
fully laboured  to  lay  firmly  on  the  solid  basis  of 
liberty,  knowledge  and  virtue  ;  should  possess  an  au- 
thentic and  connected  memorial  of  the  life  and  charac- 
ter and  labours  of  one  of  its  most  useful  citizens. 

During  the  sessions  of  1774  5-6-7-8,  Mr.  Lee  was 
at  the  head,  or  a  member  of  every  military  and  naval 
committee.  The  remark  is  equally  applicable  to  nearly 
every  committee  on  finance  and  foreign  affairs.  Be- 
sides serving  on  many  others,  which  have  been  omitted, 
he  was,  during  the  sessions  of  1774-5,  a  member  of  four- 
teen committees  to  draw  papers  ;  five  about  military 
matters  ;  and  nine  about  miscellaneous  affairs.  In  the 
session  of  1776,  he  was  on  two  committees  to  draw  pa- 
pers, fifteen  on  military  and  naval  concerns,  and  thir- 
teen on  miscellaneous  matters  :  in  the  session  of  1777, 
he  was  on  two  committees  to  draw  papers,  twelve  on 
military  and  naval,  and  twenty  on  miscellaneous  sub- 
jects :  in  the  session  of  1778,  he  was  a  member  of  four 
committees  to  draw  papers,  thirteen  military  and  naval, 
and  twenty  miscellaneous.  During  the  three  last  ses~ 


216  LIFE  ANB  CORRESPONDENCE 

sions,  he  had  been  absent,  in  consequence  of  ill  health, 
from  one  to  three  months.  It  is  believed  that  his  la- 
bours were  not  confined  to  those  subjects,  which  had 
been  referred  to  his  consideration,  for  the  author  remem- 
bers to  have  heard  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  respect- 
ability, repeat  a  conversation  between  Dr.  Shippen,  of 
Philadelphia,  in  whose  house  Mr.  Lee  lodged,  while  he 
was  a  member  of  Congress,  in  which  the  doctor  observ- 
ed, "  that  there  was  a  constant  procession  of  members 
repairing  to  his  chamber,  to  consult  about  their  re- 
ports," He  was  the  author  of  many  of  the  publications 
of  the  Old  Congress,  from  some  of  the  most  important 
of  their  addresses,  down  to  the  commission  of  their 
military  chief. 

A  few  days  after  Mr.  Lee  reached  home,  he  received 
a  letter  from  General  Whipple,  a  delegate  from  New 
Hampshire,  and  a  leading  man  in  that  state.  It  is  plea- 
sant, amid  war  and  business,  to  observe  the  warm  and 
social  feelings  of  private  life.  It  was,  no  doubt,  grateful 
to  Mr.  Lee,  to  be  thus  cherished  in  the  esteem  and  re- 
spect of  virtuous  men,  from  every  part  of  the  country. 


«  PHILADELPHIA,  8th  November, 

Mr  DEAR  SIR  —  On  my  arrival  here,  the  fourth  instant, 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  your  favour  of  the  31st 
ultimo,  at  the  hand  of  our  mutual  friend,  Mr.  Adams.  I 
esteem  myself  highly  obliged  by  this  token  of  your  re- 
membrance, but  should  have  been  much  happier  to  have 
seen  you  here. 

May  I  hope  that  my  loss  may  be  made  up  by  fre- 
quetly  hearing  from  you,  which  I  flatter  myself  your  re- 
tirement will  afford  you  opportunities  of  gratifying  me  in. 

You  may  be  assured  my  attention  will  be  much  en- 
gaged in  marine  matters,  and  it  will  afford  me  particular 
satisfaction  to  co-operate  with  you  in  that  business  when 
you  return  here,  which  it  is  my  sincere  wish  your  busi- 
ness may  speedily  admit  of. 

I  left  Mr.  Langdon  very  well  on  the  twentieth  October. 
He  very  particularly  desired  his  respects  to  you.  Please 


OF  RICHARD,  HENRY  LEE. 

make  niy  most  respectful  compliments  to  your  good  lady, 
who,  I  hope,  will  so  far  retract  her  promise,  as  to  give 
me  an  opportunity  (when  peace  is  happily  established)  to 
introduce  her  to  such  persons  in  Portsmouth  as  will  be 
very  happy  in  having  an  opportunity  of  making  a  visit 
to  that  country  agreeable  to  her. 

I  have  taken  up  my  quarters  at  Liberty  Hall,  where 
you  know  there  is  a  set  well  agreed  in  political  senti- 
ments, and  I  think  I  may  say  with  great  certainty,  that 
they  are  as  well  agreed  in  sentiments  of  esteem  and  respect 
for  you.  I  anticipate  the  pleasure  of  some  long  winter 
evening,  when,  with  a  social  pipe  and  a  friendly  glass, 
we  shall  call  to  mind  our  worthy  friend,  and  heartily 
join  in  wishing  he  may  be  soon  added  to  our  little 
circle. 

I  have  nothing  new  at  present  to  give  you.  When- 
ever any  thing  happens  that  I  think  will  give  you  plea- 
sure, be  assured  that  it  will  be  a  double  pleasure  to  me 
to  communicate  it. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  most  respect- 
fully your's,  &c. 

WILLIAM  WHIFFLE/" 

Mr.  Lee  did  not  remain  long  at  home.  He  returned 
to  Philadelphia  on  the  twentieth  of  February,  1779, 
and  as  he  had  formerly  been,  so  he  was  again,  immedi- 
ately engaged  on  the  committees  of  Congress.  This 
will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  Journal,  from  page  71 
of  the  fifth  volume,  to  page  124. 

During  Mr.  Lee's  absence,  in  the  months  of  Decem- 
ber and  January,  Congress  had  received  very  important 
communications  from  Arthur  Lee,  Esq.  commissioner 
to  the  court  of  Madrid,  in  which  he  informed  it  of  the 
views  and  disposition  of  his  Catholic  Majesty  towards 
the  United  States.  A  memorial  from  the  minister  of 
France  had  been  presented  to  Congress  on  the  ninth  of 
February,  and  a  private  audience  had  been  given  to  him 
on  the  fifteenth.  The  letters  of  Arthur  Lee,  Esq.  and 
the  memorial  of  the  French  minister,  had  been  referred 

VOL.  i. — E  e 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

to  a  committee,  who  reported  on  the  twenty-third  instant, 
"  That  upon  consideration  of  all  the  matters  referred  to 
them,  they  are  of  opinion,  that  his  Catholic  majesty  is 
disposed  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  the  United  States 
of  America:  that  he  has  manifested  this  disposition  by  a 
decisive  declaration  lately  made  to  the  Court  of  Great 
Britain.  That  in  consequence  of  such  declaration,  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  must  be  finally  ac- 
knowledged by  Great  Britain;  and  that  immediately 
thereon  a  negotiation  for  peace  will  be  set  on  foot  be- 
tween the  powers  of  France,  Great  Britain,  and  these 
United  States,  under  the  mediation  of  his  Catholic  Ma- 
jesty; or  that  Spain  will  take  part  in  the  war,  and  his 
Catholic  Majesty  will  unite  his  power  with  the  most 
Christian  King,  and  the  United  States."  This  commit- 
tee also  reported  instructions  which  seemed  proper  to  be 
given  to  our  ministers,  in  the  event  of  a  negotiation  for 
peace  between  the  three  powers.  It  divided  the  instruc- 
tions into  two  heads.  "  1st.  What  to  insist  on  as  the 
ultimatum  of  these  states."  "  2d.  What  to  yield  or  re- 
quire on  terms  of  mutual  exchange  and  compensation." 
The  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  was  to  be  a  preliminary  to  all  treaty.  The 
next  point  to  be  insisted  upon  was  the  boundaries  of  the 
United  States,  according  to  certain  limits.  The  third 
point  was  in  these  words;  "That  a  right  of  fishing  and 
curing  fish,  on  the  banks  and  coasts  of  the  island  of 
New  Foundland,  equally  with  the  subjects  of  France 
and  England,  be  reserved,  acknowledged,  and  ratified  to 
the  subjects  of  the  United  States."  The  fourth  was  in 
these  words:  <c  That  the  navigation  of  the  river  Missis- 
sippi, as  low  down  as  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
United  States,  be  acknowledged  and  ratified  absolutely 
to  the  subjects  of  the  United  States."* 

The  two  last  clauses,  the  reader  will  perceive,  brought 
into  view  subjects  of  vital  importance;  subjects  which 
in  '79,  and  in  our  own  times,  have  occupied  the  atten- 

*  See  the  secret  Journals,  volume  second,  p.  132,  &c. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

lion  of  American  politicians,  and  deeply  interested  the 
American  people.  Mr.  Lee,  as  it  will  be  seen  from  his 
votes  in  Congress,  and  from  his  correspondence  with  his 
cotemporaries  in  '79,  viewed  those  subjects  with  the 
mind  of  a  statesman,  and  legislated  upon  them  in  the  spi- 
rit of  a  firm  and  enlightened  policy.  The  interest  of  the 
east,  the  future  grandeur  of  the  west,  had  already  dawned 
upon  his  vision.  The  interest  and  prosperity  of  both 
were  alike  the  objects  of  his  care. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole.     After  several  days  of  debate  upon 
it,  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  F.  L.  Lee,  Esq. 
reported  to  the  House  several  resolutions.     On  the  twen- 
ty-second of  March,  the  third  resolution  reported  by 
the  committee  of  the  whole  was  taken  up.     It  was  in 
the  following  words  :  "  that  a  common  right  in  these 
states  to  fish  on   the  coast,  bays  and  banks  of  New 
Foundland,  and  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  coast  of 
Labrador,  and  straits  of  Bellisle,  be  acknowledged,  and 
in  case  of  refusal,  that  the  war  be  continued  unless  the 
circumstances  of  our  allies  be  such  as  to  render  them 
entirely  unable  to  assist  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war, 
in  which  case,  as  ample  privileges  in  the  fisheries  be 
insisted  on  as  can  possibly  be  obtained  :  that  in  case 
Great  Britain  should  not  be  prevailed  on  to  cede  or  de- 
clare Nova  Scotia  independent,  the  privilege  of  curing 
fish  on  the  shores  and  in  the  harbours  of  Nova  Scotia 
be  required."*     In  lieu  of  this  clause  Mr.  G.  Morris 
moved  a  substitute  in  the  following  words  :  "  That  an 
acknowledgment  be  made  by  Great  Britain,  of  a  com- 
mon right  in  these  states  to  fish  on  the  coasts,  bays  and 
banks  of  Nova  Scotia,  the  banks  of  New  Foundland 
and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,    the  coasts  of  Labrador 
and  straits  of  Bellisle,  and  a  stipulation  for  the  right 
of  curing  fish  on  the  shores  of  Nova  Scotia.     Provided 
always,  that  the  allies  of  these  states  shall  be  in  circum- 
stances to  support  them  in  carrying  on  the  war  for  such 

*  See  secret  Journal  p.  137-8-9  and  140-1. 


220  L""E  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

acknowledgment  and  stipulation ;  but  that  in  no  case, 
by  any  treaty  of  peace,  the  common  right  of  fishing  as 
above  described  be  given  up."  This  substitute  was 
adopted  and  being  under  debate  a  motion  was  made  by 
Mr.  M.  Smith,  of  Virginia,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Burke, 
of  North  Carolina,  to  strike  out  the  words,  "  and  a 
stipulation  for  the  right  of  curing  fish  on  the  shores  of 
Nova  Scotia"  and  also  the  words,  "  and  stipulation" 
after  the  word  "  acknowledgment/'  The  question, 
"  shall  they  stand,"  was  taken,  and  the  ayes  and  nays 
were  required.  Mr.  Lee  was  the  only  one  of  the  Vir- 
ginia delegation,  and  the  only  member  of  the  middle 
and  southern  states  who  voted  in  the  affirmative.  The 
question  was  carried  in  the  negative,  and  the  words 
were  omitted. 

A  motion  was  then  made  by  Mr.  Drayton,  of  South 
Carolina,  seconded  by  Mr.  G.  Morris,  of  New- York,  to 
strike  out  the  words  "  Provided  always,  that  the  allies  of 
these  states  shall  be  in  circumstances  to  support  them  in 
carrying  on  the  ivarfor  such  acknowledgment"     On  the 
question,  shall  these  words  stand?  the  yeas  and  nays  were 
required  by  Mr.  Drayton.     Mr.  Lee  was  the  only  mem- 
ber of  the  Virginia  delegation,  and,  as  on  the  preceding 
vote,  the  only  member  from  the  middle  or  southern  states, 
who  voted  that  these  words  should  not  stand.     It  was 
resolved  that  the  words  should  stand.     A  division  was 
then  called  for,  and  on  the  question  to  agree  to  the  first 
part  of  the  resolution  as  amended,  including  the  proviso, 
being  before  the  House,  the  yeas  and  nays  were  required 
by  Mr.  Ellery.     Mr.  Lee,  again  alone,  of  the  members 
of  the  states  just  mentioned,  voted  against  the  amend- 
ment and  proviso.    The  article,  as  amended,  was  agreed 
to;  thus  a  stipulation  respecting  a  right  to  cure  fish  on 
the  shores  of  Nova  Scotia,  was  not  to  be  made  an  essen- 
tial demand  in  a  treaty  of  peace;  and  even  the  right 
to  fish  on  the  coasts,  bays,  and  banks  of  Nova  Scotia,  &c. 
was  not  to  be  insisted  on,  only  in  case  our  allies  were 
in  a  situation  to  support  us  in  forcing  Great  Britain  to 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  22 1 

acknowledge  such  a  right  in  our  citizens*  Such,  how- 
ever, were  not  the  views  of  Mr.  Lee.  He  considered 
that  the  acknowledgment  of  a  right  to  fish,  and  a  stipu- 
lation to  cure  fish  on  those  shores,  were  essential  to  the 
interests  and  prosperity  of  the  eastern  and  northern  states, 
and  he  would  have  made  both  a  sine  qua  non  of  a  treaty. 
Such  was  the  language  of  his  votes  just  recorded.  He 
is  said  to  have  powerfully  advocated  and  enforced  the 
justice  and  propriety  that  all  the  members  of  the  con- 
federacy should  stand  or  fall,  not  only  by  the  common 
independence,  but  by  the  interest  of  each  one.  He  re- 
lied, too,  for  the  acknowledgment  of  claims,  on  which 
he  thought  the  wealth  and  greatness  of  the  Union  depend- 
ed, more  on  the  fortitude  and  valour  of  his  countrymen, 
than  on  the  ability  and  disposition  of  our  allies.  Hence 
he  voted  against  the  proviso  of  the  article  respecting  the 
fisheries,  which  however  was  adopted. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  March,  Congress  resumed  the 
report  of  the  committee  of  the  whole;  and  the  fourth 
article,  as  reported  by  it,  was  adopted.  It  was  in  these 
words:  "  That  the  navigation  of  the  river  Mississippi  br 
acknowledged  and  ratified  absolutely  to  these  states.5* 
The  reader  will  recollect  that  the  navigation  of  this  river. 
only  as  low  down  as  the  southern  boundary  of  the  United 
States,  was  made  a  demand  by  the  select  committee  which 
reported  on  the  twenty-third  of  February.  While  this 
article  was  under  debate  in  the  committee  of  the  whole, 
Mr.  Lee  had  enforced  the  policy  of  demanding  and  se- 
curing a  free  and  entire  navigation  of  that  noble  river 
He  seemed  to  have  foreseen  the  growth  of  the  western 
territory  in  population,  and  to  have  formed  a  just  estimate 
of  the  importance  of  such  a  right  to  their  future  prospe- 
rity. He  as  earnestly  and  as  steadfastly  laboured  to 
secure  the  interests  of  the  west,  as  he  had  done  to  esta- 
blish those  of  the  north  and  east.  For  these  he  thought 
the  southern  states  should  struggle  to  the  last,  inasmuch 
as  all  had  fought  together  for  independence. 

•See  Jour.  p.  140—$. 


222  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

When  the  4th  article  was  under  consideration,  on  the 
twenty-fourth  instant,  a  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Burke, 
and  seconded  by  Mr.  Drayton,  to  add  these  words:  "Pro- 
vided, that  the  allies  of  the  United  States,  shall  declare 
themselves  in  circumstances  to  afford  effectual  assistance 
for  carrying  on  the  war,  until  such  acknowledgment  and 
ratification  shall  be  obtained.  On  the  question  to  agree 
to  this  amendment,  the  yeas  and  nays  were  required  by 
Mr.  Lee.  Upon  the  question,  Mr.  Lee  voted  in  the  ne- 
gative. He  voted  with  a  majority  of  his  colleagues. 
Connecticut,  Maryland,  and  South  Carolina,  were  di- 
vided; while  North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  voted  for  the 
amendment.  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay, 
Rhode  Island,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  and  Virginia,  rejected  the  amendment.  The 
question  then  recurred,  to  agree  to  the  article  as  re- 
ported by  the  committee  of  the  whole — and  the  yeas 
and  nays  were  required  by  Mr.  Lee.  He  voted  in  the 
affirmative,  and  against  the  majority  of  his  colkagues. 
It  redounds  to  its  honour,  that  the  only  state  which  was 
willing  to  make  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  abso- 
lutely a  sine  qua  non  to  treaty,  was  Pennsylvania.  The  4th 
article  was,  therefore,  rejected.  Only  eight  members, 
among  whom  was  Mr.  Lee,  voting  in  the  affirmative  on 
the  main  queston;  viz.  to  agree  to  the  4th  article,  as  re- 
ported by  the  committee  of  the  whole. 

On  the  game  day  on  which  the  4th  article  was  reject- 
ed, Mr.  Gerry  moved,  that  the  3d  article  be  reconsider- 
ed. The  article  was  read  as  amended,  and  agreed  to  on 
the  twenty-second.  It  was  in  these  words,  "  That  an 
acknowledgment  be  made  by  Great  Britain,  of  a  com- 
mon right  in  these  states,  to  fish  on  the  coasts,  bays,  and 
banks  of  Nova  Scotia,  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland, 
and  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  the  coasts  of  Labrador,  and 
Straits  of  Bellisle;  Provided  always,  the  allies  of  these 
states  be  in  circumstances  to  support  them  in  carrying 
on  the  war,  for  such  acknowledgment,  but  that  in  no 
case,  by  any  treaty  of  peace,  the  common  right  of  fish- 
ing as  above  described,  be  given  up."  A  motion  was 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  223 

made  by  Mr.  Burke  to  strike  out  the  words,  between  the 
words  "to  fish," and  "provided,"  and  in  lieu  thereof, to 
insert  "on  all  and  singular,  the  fishing  banks  to  the  east- 
ward of  the  Island  of  Cape  Breton,  and  of  Nova  Scotia, 
which  by  the  treaties  of  Utrecht  and  Paris,  were  ceded  to 
the  king  of  Great  Britain,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  subjects 
of  France."  A  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Lee,  and  se- 
conded by  Mr.  Burke,  that  the  following  words  be  re- 
ceived as  a  substitute  for  the  whole  of  the  3d  article,  as 
it  had  been  amended  and  adopted  on  the  twenty-second 
instant,  "  That  the  right  of  fishing  on  the  coasts  and 
banks  of  North  America,  be  reserved  to  the  United 
States,  as  fully  as  they  enjoyed  the  same  when  they 
were  subject  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  excepting 
always,  what  shall  have  been  excepted  by  the  treaty  of 
Paris,  between  France  and  the  United  States;  the  whole 
to  be  explained  by  the  treaties  of  Utrecht  and  Paris, 
with  Great  Britain,  and  of  Paris,  with  the  United  States 
of  North  America."  The  question  "  shall  this  be  re- 
ceived as  a  substitute,"  was  put,  and  the  yeas  and  nays 
were  required  by  Mr.  Gerry.  The  question  was  decid- 
ed in  the  affirmative,  and  the  substitute  was  adopted. 

The  following  letters  from  Mr.  Lee,  were  written, 
soon  after  the  secret  sittings  of  Congress,  on  the  sub- 
jects just  presented  to  the  reader,  while  he  was  detained 
by  ill  health,  at  home.  He  had  been  compelled  to  leave 
Congress  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  May.  They  will  serve 
still  further,  to  show  his  opinions  on  the  subject  of  the 
fisheries,  and  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  He 
"  could  not  think,  they  would  be  considered  by  posterity, 
friends  to  their  country,"  who  were  willing  to  treat  with 
Great  Britain,  without  insisting  firmly  upon  the  acquisi- 
tion of  these  rights,  and  having  them  placed  on  the  same 
permanent  foundations,  on  which  stood  the  independence 
and  sovereignty  of  the  United  States, 

«  CHANTILLY,  AUGUST  7th,  1779. 

Mr  DEAR  SIR— I  had  devoted  this  day,  before  the 
going  out  of  the  post,  to  have  written  to  you  a  long  let- 


224,  L1FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

ter;  but  the  great  increase  of  my  cold,  has  compelled 
me  to  a  third  bleeding,  and  has  indisposed  me  so  much 
that  I  shall  be  obliged  to  abridge  this  letter  a  good  deal, 
I  cannot  fail  to  thank  you  for  your  favour  of  the  twenty- 
fourth  ultimo,  which  came  to  hand  on  the  fourth  instant. 
You  will  please  observe,  in  my  last  letter,  I  foretell,  that 
the  party  would  not  agree  to  publish  Dr.  Lee's  vindica- 
tion.4" I  know  perfectly  well,  the  principles  on  which 
these  people  act,  so  that,  on  most  points,  I  would  venture 
ten  to  one,  on  saying  with  certainty,  how  the  set  will 
vote.  I  am  clearly  of  opinion,  that  if  Mr.  "  Clearly-out- 
of-order,"  remains  much  longer  in  Congress,  the  United 
States  will  have  cause  to  rue  it  bitterly.  I  am  sure, 
that  I  have  heard  more  talk  about  order,  and  seen  less 
attention  to  it,  in  one  week  in  that  Assembly,  since  he 
became  a  member,  than  in  four  years  preceding  his 
coming  in.  You  suppose  I  will  get  the  vindication  from 
the  fountain;  I  believe  so  too,  sir,  were  it  not  for  the 

vice which  is  disseminated  with  the  partners, 

in  many  parts  of  Virginia,  and  of  France.  A  large 
packet  came  lately  to  me,  robbed  of  its  written  papers, 
which,  I  can  have  no  doubt,  were  in  it;  it  was  opened 
at  one  end,  and  directed  in  my  brother's  handwriting, 
Every  delegate  has  a  right  to  a  copy;  and  can  there  be 
any  impropriety  (since  the  paper  came  directed  to  me] 
in  a  delegate  furnishing  me  with  a  copy?  As  the  pub- 
lic will,  most  inevitably,  in  time,  be  made  acquainted 
with  the  proceedings  of  Congress  in  this  affair,  I  wish 

*  This,  and  the  following  remarks,  refer  to  Mr.  A.  Lee's  vindi- 
cation against  the  aspersions  of  Silas  Deane,  who  had  been  a  joint 
commissioner  at  the  court  of  France,  with  Messrs.  Franklin  and 
A.  Lee.  Mr.  Lee  had  detected  him  in  committing  frauds  and 
peculations  upon  the  United  States.  As  Mr.  Lee  had  foretold.; 
so  it  happened :  Deane  fled  to  England,  when  ordered  to  settle 
his  accounts.  Mr.  Lee  vindicated  himself  so  clearly  against  ali 
his  charges,  that  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  Congress,  by  the 
legislature  of  his  native  state,  subsequently  to  his  publication  in 
reply  to  Deane.  He  was,  by  that  body,  also,  appointed  a  com- 
missioner of  the  board  of  treasury,  and  a  commissioner,  to  visiU 
and  treat  with,  all  the  tribes  of  Indians  on  our  western  frontier? 


OF  R1CHABD  HENRY  LEE.  225 

most  earnestly,  for  the  honour  of  many  gentlemen  now 
there,  that  the  journal  may  distinguish  properly.  To 
this  end,  when  "order  clearly"  obstructs  not,  cannot  a 
motion  for  publishing  be  made,  and  the  ayes  and  nays  be 
taken  on  it?  The  same  on  the  question  of  making  Deane 
give  security  for  settling  full  and  fair  accounts.  And  the 
same  indeed,  on  all  questions  relating  to  this  man.  You 
alarm  me  exceedingly,  when  you  say  u  I  do  not  at  this  in- 
stant see  a  man,  &c.;"  can  it  be,  that  the  late  commis- 
sioner can  escape  with  applause!  I  would  not  for  a  thou- 
sand worlds  have  my  name  to  such  a  vote.  Infamy  will 
certainly  attend  it  to  the  latest  posterity.  I  will  pledge  my 
life  on  this. 

I  take  Captain  Duarte,  of  the  Portuguese  Snow,  to 
be  the  captain  and  vessel  carried  to  Boston  by  the  pri- 
vateer belonging  to  R.  Morris  and  Carter  Braxton.  If 
so,  and  our  Assembly  are  to  determine  any  thing  con- 
cerning it,  it  will  be  essentially  necessary,  that  all  the 
papers  relative  to  the  case,  be  sent  to  that  body  properly 
authenticated,  and  amongst  others,  Braxton's  instructions 
to  the  captain  of  the  privateer  when  he  sailed  on  his 
cruise:  I  think  this  paper  is  among  the  Congress  files. 
I  shall  thank  you  sir,  for  an  authenticated  copy  of  these 
instructions,  as  well  as  the  resolve  you  allude  to  in  your 
favour  of  the  twenty-seventh.  I  am  clearly  of  opinion 
with  you,  that  if  this  affair  is  not  properly  adjusted  in 
America,  the  injury  to  our  cause  in  Europe,  will  be 
great;  and,  I  believe,  in  my  conscience,  that  some 
people,  who  hold  their  heads  high  in  America,  wish  for 
this  consequence. 

If  you  (as  I  hope  you  do)  still  determine  to  honour 
Chantilly  with  your  company  as  you  travel  to  the  south, 
I  pray  you,  dear  sir,  to  let  me  know  two  posts  before  you 
leave  Philadelphia,  that  I  may  not  be  from  home,  for  I 
should  be  extremely  concerned  were  I  to  be  absent  on 
an  event  I  wish  so  much  should  take  place.  I  wish  we 
may  be  so  fortunate  as  to  hear  that  the  enemy  have  been 
compelled  to  abandon  Georgia.  If  we  meet  with  suc- 
cess in  that  quarter,  surely  our  enemy  will  be  compelled 

VOL.  i. — F  f 


22$  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

to  equitable  terms  of  peace  next  winter.  But  I  will 
never  call  the  loss  of  the  fisheries,  and  the  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi,  equitable.  And  I  am  sure  posterity 
will  execrate  those  who  do.  I  am  not  well,  and  must 
conclude.  With  my  best  wishes  for  your  health  and 
happiness, 

I  am,  my  dear  sir,  your  most  affectionate  friend,  and 
obliged  humble  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

To  the  Hon.  HERRI  LAUHENS." 

"  CHANTILLY,  October  7th,  1779. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  congratulate  you  most  sincerely 
on  your  safe  arrival,  and  your  return  to  your  family  and 
country.  I  hope  you  found  the  former  in  good  health; 
the  latter  I  am  very  sure  will  at  all  times  be  benefited 
by  the  assistance  oi'  so  able  a  citizen,  and  the  more  so 
especially  at  this  time,  \vhon  the  most  important  of  all 
sublunary  things  is  under  consideration,  the  establish- 
ment of  a  government.  Independently  of  the  general 
principle  of  philanthropy,  I  feel  myself  interested  in  the 
establishment  of  a  wise  and  free  republican  government 
in  Massachusetts,  where  yet  I  hope  to  finish  the  remain- 
der of  my  days.  The  hasty,  unpersevering,  aristocratic 
genius  of  the  south  suits  not  my  disposition,  and  is 
inconsistent  with  my  views  of  what  must  constitute  social 
happiness  and  security. 

It  is  not  long  since  I  received  your  favour  of  February 
13th,  from  Paris.  So  far  as  immediate  personal  ease 
and  happiness  are  the  objects,  it  is  beyond  a  doubt  that 
the  life  of  a  private  citizen  is  more  desirable  than  any 
public  character  whatever,  and  especially  such  as  carry 
us  from  home.  But,  my  friend,  we  must  consider  that 
individual  happiness  flows  from  the  general  felicity  ;  and 
the  security  of  the  whole  is  the  safety  of  particulars. 
What  must  become  of  the  American  cause  and  charac- 
ter, if  her  councils  at  home  and  abroad  are  to  be  filled 
and  conducted  by  half  tones,  ambitious,  avaricious  and 
wicked  men  ?  These  considerations  induce  me  to  wish. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  221 

that  you  would  not  give  up  the  thoughts  of  public  ser- 
vice ;  until  our  affairs  are  better  settled.  I  wish  with 
all  my  heart  that  the  Chevalier  De  La  Luzerne  and 
Mr.  De  Marbois  had  originally  come  here.  I  do  assure 
you,  it  would  greatly  have  benefited  the  cause  of  the 
alliance  and  the  United  States.  Such  scenes  of  wicked 
intrigue  as  I  never  expected  to  take  place  in  America, 
until  the  maturity  of  time  and  luxury  with  ks  consequent 
train  of  vices,  bad  ripened  us  for  destruction  !  You 
will  no  doubt  be  fully  informed  by  others  concerning  the 
proceedings  of  a  faction  dangerous  to  our  country,  and 
very  disgraceful  also.  October  13th,  I  had  written  thus 
far  and  stopped,  having  no  opportunity  of  immediate 
conveyance,  when  my  friends  from  Philadelphia,  inform- 
ed me  of  the  crowning  work  of  more  than  a  year's 
intrigue,  that  malice  was  at  last  glutted  to  satiety.  It 
seems  the  party  were  under  the  necessity  of  employing 
a  proper  man.  I  am  well  pleased  to  see  even  the  wick- 
ed compelled  to  do  right.  I  heartily  wish  you  success 
in  your  negotiation,  and  that  whilst  you  secure  one  va- 
luable point  for  us,  (the  fisheries.)  you  will  not  the  less 
exert  your  endeavours  for  another  very  essential  object, 
the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  provided  guilty 
Britain  should  remain  in  possession  of  the  Floridas.  I 
totally  despair  of  this  navigation  from  any  other  advoca- 
tion.  Before  this  reaches  Boston  you  will  have  heard 
of  the  arrival  of  the  Count  D'Estaign  on  our  coasts. 
Should  fortune  favour  us  with  this  aid,  we  may  hope  to 
remove  our  unprincipled  enemies  from  New  York  and 
Rhode  Island.  If,  to  this,  we  could  add  Nova  Scotia, 
we  might  be  pretty  indifferent  about  the  future  move- 
ments of  Great  Britain. 

I  shall  be  happy  at  all  times  to  hear  from  you,  and  will 
in  return  furnish  you  with  such  intelligence  as  this  part 
of  the  world  produces. 

With  singular  esteem  and  affection, 

I  am,  dear  sir,  most  sincerely  yours, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE 

To  the  Hon.  JOHK 


22S  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

There  are  some  opinions  in  the  preceding  letter, 
which,  may  perhaps,  surprise  the  reader,  when  he  re- 
collects that  Mr.  Lee  was  a  native  of  a  southern  state; 
at  the  time  when  this  letter  was  written,  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  wealthy  inhabitants  of  the  south, 
still  exhibited  in  some  degree,  the  pomp  and  luxury, 
which  characterized  them  before  the  revolution.  The 
distinctions  in  society  were  still  marked.  The  unequal 
distribution  of  property  tended  to  keep  alive  the  pride 
of  family,  and  a  distance  of  manner  towards  the  poorer 
part  of  the  people.  But  causes,  which  it  is  unnecessary 
here  to  trace,  have  worked  almost  an  entire  changfe  in 
these  respects,  and  now  plainness  of  manners,  and  a 
spirit  of  equality  and  freedom,  distinguish  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Virginia  and  of  her  sister  states  of  the  south,  as 
republican  communities.  The  legislature  of  Virginia, 
about  the  period  of  Mr.  Lee's  letter  to  Mr.  Adams,  had 
manifested  too  great  a  disposition,  to  rely  on  mere  tem- 
porary expedients  in  the  important  internal  concerns  of 
the  state  ;  and  an  indisposition  to  provide  by  prompt, 
judicious  and  solid  regulations,  for  its  present  security, 
and  future  prosperity.  Mr.  Lee,  however,  was  well 
known  to  have  been  strongly  attached  to  his  native  state, 
and  to  have  enthusiastically  admired  many  features  of 
southern  character. 

While  Mr.  Lee  was  at  home  in  the  summer  of  '79, 
an  incident  occurred,  which,  as  it  tends  to  show  the  dis- 
interested love  of  country,  that  prevailed  among  the 
American  yeomanry  during  the  revolution,  cannot  fail 
to  be  interesting. 

The  reader  knows  that  in  the  year  1779,  a  treaty  of 
alliance  had  been  formed  between  France  and  the  Uni- 
ted States;  and,  that  a  fleet  under  the  command  of  the 
Count  D'Estaign,  had  arrived  on  the  coast.  In  the 
early  part  of  August,  of  that  year,  a  French  ship  of  war 
bearing  despatches  to  Congress,  and  ordered  to  put  in 
at  Norfolk,  in  Virginia,  was  chased  by  some  British 
ships,  as  far  up  the  Potomac,  as  the  county  of  West- 
moreland. The  name  and  character  of  Mr.  Lee,  were 


OF  RICHARD  HENKY  LEE.  22% 

previously  known  to  the  commander  of  the  ship,  or  learn- 
ed  perhaps,  from  intercourse  with  the  shore.  So  it  was, 
that  all  the  papers  of  importance  were  delivered  to  him 
by  the  commander,  who,  accompanied  by  the  principal 
officers  of  the  ship,  waited  on  Mr.  Lee.  Upon  a  con- 
ference with  them",  he  obtained  sufficient  information 
respecting  the  despatches,  to  perceive  their  great  inte- 
rest, and  the  propriety  of  as  early  a  conveyance  of  them 
as  possible  to  Congress.  The  danger  of  travelling  di- 
rectly towards  Philadelphia,  especially  without  some 
very  apparent,  or  easily  explained  motive,  was  great, 
both  along  the  roads  in  the  interior  of  the  states  through 
which  the  traveller  must  pass,  and  along  the  roads  on  the 
coasts.  The  enemy's  ships  had  possession  of  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  and  often  came  up  the  Potomac  river  as 
high  as  Alexandria. 

Mr.  Lee  continuing  too  feeble  to  return  to  Philadel- 
phia, was  obliged  to  look  for  some  person,  whose  cou- 
rage and  fidelity  could  be  relied  on,  and  whose  intelli- 
gence and  ingenuity  would  enable  him  to  evade  inquiries, 
and  to  take  advantage  of  every  means  and  opportunity 
of  a  safe  and  speedy  arrival  in  Philadelphia.  He  was 
for  some  time  in  considerable  difficulty,  in  fixing  on  a 
person  in  every  point  fitted  for  the  trip.  He,  at  first, 
endeavoured  to  find  such  a  person  among  men  of  ma- 
ture age.  But,  although  he  could  find  many  whose 
love  and  fidelity  to  their  country  could  be  trusted,  yet 
they  were  in  other  respects,  unqualified  for  the  errand. 
He  at  length,  recollected  a  young  man*  of  his  neigh- 
bourhood, about  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  of  age, 
whose  adventurous  spirit  and  intelligence,  fitted  him  for 
any  enterprise.  The  moment  this  youth  occurred  to 
his  mind,  he  sent  for  him,  and  having  by  general  re- 
marks and  inquiries,  ascertained  that  he  would  under- 
take any  thing  for  his  country,  he  revealed  to  him  the 
real  service  he  required  of  him.  The  promptitude  and 

*  His  name  was  Bcnnet,  who  lived  and  died  respected  in  Lees- 
fcurg,  Virginia. 


£30  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

pleasure  which  the  youth  evinced  at  the  idea  of  serving 
his  country,  convinced  Mr.  Lee,  that  he  had  met  with 
one  in  every  respect  suited  to  the  occasion.  Having 
instructed  him  to  proceed  with  all  possible  despatch  and 
secrecy  to  Philadelphia,  and  deliver  the  papers  to  the 
president  of  Congress  alone,  and  having  planned  with 
him  the  route  and  manner  of  his  journey,  he  sewed  the 
papers  in  different  parts  of  his  dress,  so  as  to  render  it 
imperceptible,  that  he  had  any  thing  about  him. 

The  young  man  having  always  lived  on  the  water- 
courses, was  very  skilful  in  the  management  of  small 
vessels.  He  accordingly  provided  himself  with  a  small 
boat,  and  in  the  dimness  of  twilight,  without  returning 
lo  his  home,  proceeded  to  the  river,  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Lee;  and  after  receiving  much  encouragement  and 
many  warm  commendations  from  him,  he  pushed  off, 
alone.  In  this  boat  he  passed  a  schooner  and  two  ten- 
ders of  the  enemy,  during  the  night,  and  as  soon  as  the 
day  dawned,  he  came  ashore,  and  travelled  on  foot,  avoid- 
ing as  much  as  possible  the  public  roads.  He  frequently 
lay  in  the  woods,  during  the  day,  suffering  severely  from 
hunger  and  thirst,  and  travelled  during  the  night.  Hav- 
ing been  a  long  time  without  any  thing  to  eat,  and  find- 
ing himself  near  a  small  town  at  the  head  of  the  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  he  determined  about  sunset  to  go  into  it  and 
procure  refreshment,  at  some  obscure  inn.  Having 
found  one  in  which  he  thought  he  might  safely  stop 
for  a  short  time,  he  went  in.  While  he  was  sitting  in  a 
room,  adjoining  a  garden,  four  or  five  British  seamen 
and  marines  came  into  the  porch  of  the  tavern,  and  put- 
ting down  their  guns,  called  for  rum.  After  drinking 
some  of  it,  two  of  them  came  into  the  room  in  which 
he  was  sitting,  and  began  to  question  him,  "  whether  he 
belonged  to  king  George,  or  to  the  rebels?"  He  an- 
swered them  in  a  collected  and  careless  manner,  and  they, 
at  length,  returned  to  their  comrades.  As  soon  as  they 
had  left  the  room,  he  leaped  from  the  window,  and  cross- 
ing the  garden,  without  being  observed,  regained  the 
road  leading  into  the  country,  and  travelled,  as  fast  as 


OF  KICHARD 'HENRY  LEE. 

he  could,  during  the  night.     He,  at  last,  arrived  safely 
in   Philadelphia,  just  after   Congress  had  assembled. 
Having  been  directed  to  the  house  in  which  it  met,  he 
found  it  sitting  with  closed  doors.     He  assured  the  door- 
keeper, with  much  earnestness,  that  he  had  some  busi- 
ness of  great  importance  with  the  president,  to  whom 
alone  he  was  instructed  to  communicate  what  it  was. 
The  door-keeper  being  struck  with  his  manner,  went  in, 
and  after  some  minutes,  the  president  came  out.     The 
young  man  informed  him  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  he  had  been  sent  by  Colonel  Lee,  and  of  his  in- 
struction to  deliver  the  papers  to  the  president  of  Con- 
gress.  The  president,  after  reading  Mr.  Lee's  letter,  and 
receiving  all  the  papers  mentioned  in  it,  had  him  pro- 
vided with  comfortable  lodgings.     After  the  house  ad- 
journed, the  president  waited  on  him,  and  presented  to 
him  the  thanks  of  Congress,  and  expressed  a  desire  that 
he  would  accept  a  reward.     He,  however,  declined  all 
offers  of  the  kind,  requesting  only  money  enough  to  en- 
able him  to  return  to  Virginia.     The  following  letter 
from  Mr.  Lovell,  a  member  of  Congress,  to  Mr.  Lee, 
which  is  copied  from  the  manuscript  of  Mr.  Lovell,  will 
confirm  the  above  related  anecdote.     The  author  has 
more  than  once  heard  it  from  the  person  himself,  whose 
veracity  no  one  ever  doubted. 

«  31st  August,  1779. 

DEAR  SIR — Your  favour  of  the  twenty-second  came 
yesterday  to  hand.  Mr.  Bennet  parted  from  me  on  Sa- 
turday, and  will  probably  get  home  in  less  time  than  he 
came. 

I  will  attend,  all  in  my  power,  to  the  subjects  you  have 
written  about;  but  I  am  verily  exceeding  sick,  confined 
to  my  chamber  and  my  bed  alternately.  I  have,  in  vain, 
dabbled  with  rhubarb;  I  go  upon  tartar-emetic  to  day. 
I  was  in  bed  yesterday,  when  I  prepared  a  scrap  for 
Dunlap's  paper.  I  was  unwilling  to  let  a  part  of  a  day 
go  over,  without  some  continuance  of  the  vouchers  of 
Deane's  infamy.  Mr.  John  Adams  on  hearing  of  De 


AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

Vergcnnes  and  Mr.  Arthur  Lee,  has  sent  me  copies  ot 
his  own  correspondence  with  that  minister,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Deane's  publication ;  in  the  course  of  which  he 
gives  such  testimony  from  personal  knowledge,  in  regard 
to  Arthur  Lee,  and  his  brothers,  Richard  and  Francis, 
as  cannot  fail  to  destroy  any  evil  impression  made  by 
Deane's  publication;  and  which  must  do  honour  to  the 
manly,  ingenuous  spirit  of  the  writer.  Whenever  I  dare, 
I  will  copy  them.  I  must  first  translate  the  French, 
which  is  the  full  my  present  state  of  health  will  permit, 
This  morning  brings  what  I  now  send.  I  have  not  ex- 
amined them.  At  the  same  time  the  Parliamentary  Re- 
gisters were  sent.  I  thought  it  transgression  enough  to 
frank  the  present.  I  will  send  the  others  by  the,  first 
opportunity. 

Tour's  affectionately, 

JAMES  LOVELL." 


OF  RICHAIiD  HENRY  LEE 


CHAPTER  X. 


MR.  LEE  was  re-elected,  in  the  Spring  of  the  yeat 
1780,  a  delegate  from  the  county  of  Westmoreland,  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  Virginia.  He  did  not  resume 
his  seat  in  Congress,  during  this  year,  or  during  the  two 
following  years.  .  The  affairs  of  his  native  state  required 
his  services. 

The  enemy  now  turned  his  operations  against  the 
southern  states,  more  particularly  than  he  had  yet  done. 
The  war  upon  the  coasts  of  Virginia,  was  of  a  preda- 
tory kind,  rather  than  a  general  and  regular  attack.  The 
inhabitants  living  on  the  large  rivers,  were  kept  in  a  state 
of  continual  alarm  and  danger,  by  small  fleets,  from 
which  the  enemy  landed  troops,  and  pillaged  the  country. 
The  county  of  Westmoreland  was  much  exposed  to 
these  distressing  incursions.     Mr.  Lee  was,  therefore, 
called  upon  by  the  state  government,  to  take  upon  him- 
self the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office  of  J/eutenant 
of  the  county,  in  which  character  he  had  theoommand  of 
all  the  militia  of  it.  He  accordingly,  as  pror*ptly  took  upon 
him  actual  military  duty,  as  he  had  unrkrtaken  the  duties 
of  a  Senator.     In  his  military  cavity,  he  evinced  his 
characteristic  intelligence,  judgment,  and  activity.     He 
immediately  called  out  the  n-ilitia,  and  put  it  into  a  state 
of  order  and  preparation.    He  had  been,  when  a  young 
man,  fond  of  military  life,-  and  had  made  himself  scien- 
tifically, and  practically,  acquainted  with  its  duties.     He 
had  studied  military  science  with  great  care  and  labour, 
with  a  view  to  render  himself  serviceable  in  the  field, 
if  the  exigencies  and  wish  of  this  country  required  him 
to  act  there.     He  now  found  it  of  great  utility  to  him, 
in  arranging  and  disciplining  the  militia.     He  appointed 

TOL.  i. — G  g 


CORRESPONDENCE 

stated  days,  on  which,  at  different  places  in  the  county, 
the  several  divisions  should  be  exercised.  He  was  always 
present,  at  these  times  and  places,  and  personally  attend- 
ed to  the  exercising  of  the  men.  He  very  soon  esta- 
blished such  discipline  amongst  the  militia  of  his  county, 
and  inspired  them  with  such  spirit,  that  they  were  ready, 
at  a  moment's  warning,  to  meet  any  danger,  or  to  undergo 
any  hardship.  He  selected  places  of  defence,  and  situa- 
tions for  his  camps,  with  so  much  judgment,  that  the 
county  of  Westmoreland  was  seldom  visited  by  the  enemy. 
Captain  Graves,  who  commanded  one  or  two  schooners, 
and  a  number  of  tenders,  had  the  entire  possession  of 
the  river  Potomac,  and  ravaged  the  counties  upon  its 
shores.  He  once  observed,  to  a  person  whom  he  had 
taken  prisoner  from  one  of  the  lower  counties  of  Vir- 
ginia, "  I  never  put  my  foot  upon  Westmoreland,  that 
the  militia  are  not  upon  me  directly." 

On  one  occasion,  information  was  given  to  Mr.  Lee, 
that  one  of  the  enemy's  tenders  had  been  driven  in,  and 
stranded,  by  a  violent  storm.     He  had  reason  to  expect, 
that  there  would  be,  on  board  of  it,  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion, of  which  he  was  in  much  want.     He  determined 
upon  making  an  effort  to  take  possession  of  it.  He  received 
intelligence  that  Graves'  fleet  had  appeared  in  sight,  and 
was  makraor  towards  the  point  where  the  tender  was 
lying.  He  in*nec[jately  ordered  out  two  small  companies 
of  militia,  one  *f  which,  was  armed  with  rifles.     At  the 
head  of  these,  he  ^arched  to  the  river.     On  his  arrival, 
he  perceived  that  the  <>uemy  were  preparing  to  regain 
their  vessel,  for  two  or  *hree  tenders  (or  barges)  well 
manned,  soon  stood  in  for  tY*>  shore.  Mr.  Lee  placed  his 
riflemen  on  the  bank,  directing  i^em  to  conceal  themselves 
behind  the  bushes  and  fences,  and  to  reserve  their  fire 
until  he  should  give  them  further  orders.     He  then 
placed  the  other  company  on  the  beach,  and  took  his  sta- 
tion at  their  head.     As  the  tenders  approached,  the 
enemy  fired  their  long  guns,  the  balls  of  which,  gene- 
rally struck  in  the  bank,  over  the  heads  of  the  men. 
When  they  were  near  enough  to  be  reached  by  small 


Ob'  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  £35 

arms,  he  directed  his  men  to  fire.  He  then  returned  to 
those  whom  he  had  stationed  on  the  bank,  and  having 
ordered  them  to  commence  their  fire,  he  hastened  down 
to  the  beach;  he  had  the  mortification  to  find  his  men 
flying,  and  the  enemy  landing.  They  fired  upon  him, 
and  his  horse  threw  him  within  one  hundred  yards  of 
them.  He  coolly  re-mounted  his  horse,  amidst  their 
shot.  Providence  preserved  him,  unhurt.  The  enemy 
succeeded,  at  last,  in  towing  off  their  tender,  but  did  not 
attempt  to  ascend  the  bank. 

Mr.  Lee  continued,  during  the  year  '81,  with  industry 
and  vigilance,  to  protect  his  native  county  from  the  de- 
predations of  the  enemy.  He  did  not  confine  his  exertions 
to  the  county  of  Westmoreland,  but  actively  assisted  in 
the  defence  of  the  whole  of  that  section  of  the  state, 
called  "the  Northern  Neck."  Some  of  the  letters  of 
General  Weedon,  (who  commanded  whatever  regular 
army  could  be  raised  in  Virginia)  to  be  found  amongst 
the  Virginia  correspondence  accompanying  this  memoir, 
will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  activity,  judgment, 
and  services  of  Mr.  Lee,  in  his  military  capacity. 

General  Green,  when  on  his  way  to  take  the  command 
of  the  southern  army,  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Lee,  by  a 
letter  from  Dr.  Shippen.  Between  General  Green  and 
Mr.  Lee,  there  was  a  constant  correspondence  carried 
on,  during  the  southern  campaign.  It  is  a  matter  of 
regret,  that  the  letters  of  the  former  have  all  been  lost, 
together  with  a  great  number  of  other  valuable  papers. 

Mr.  Lee  attended  the  sittings  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  Virginia,  in  the  years  "81  and  '82,  and  took  an  active 
part  in  its  business. 

During  these  sessions,  two  subjects  of  great  import- 
ance to  the  state,  were  frequently  agitated.  These 
were,  the  propriety  and  expediency  of  making  depre- 
ciated paper  money  a  tender  for  debts,  which  had  been 
created,  on  the  credit  and  faith  of  specie  payment:  and 
of  impeding,  and  indeed,  of  confiscating  debt?  due 
by  citizens  of  the  state,  to  British  merchants,  that  had 
been  contracted  upon  fair  and  mutual  dealings  before 


£36  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

the  war.  These  subjects  deeply  interested  the  people; 
and  it  may  well  be  imagined,  that  they  would  be  divided 
in  opinion  respecting  them.  The  politicians  of  the  state, 
held  different  opinions,  and  discussed  them  with  great 
warmth,  both  in  and  out  of  the  Assembly.  Indeed,  the 
whole  state  was  heated  and  agitated. 

On  the  questions  growing  out  of  these  subjects,  in  the 
legislature,  Mr.  Lee  took  a  leading  and  animated  part. 
He  declared,  that  no  questions  which  he  had  been 
called  to  consider,  had  created  a  deeper  interest  in  his 
breast,  and  had  raised  so  much  concern  for  the  honour 
and  interests  of  his  fellow  citizens.  His  friend,  Patrick 
Henry,  and  himself,  were  on  opposite  sides  in  every  de- 
bate; Mr.  Henry  earnestly  advising  the  adoption  of  these 
measures,  and  Mr.  Lee  as  earnestly  opposing  them.  He 
objected  to  them  both,  because,  he  said,  he  considered 
at  least,  such  measures  would  be  gross  violations  of 
honesty  and  good  faith  between  men.  He  declared, 
that  under  no  extremity  or  state  necessity,  would  he  con- 
sent to  a  legislative  violation  of  these  principles.  He 
declared,  that  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  remained 
c<  the  honest  slaves  of  Great  Britain,  than  to  become 
dishonest  freemen/'  He  eloquently  urged,  that  no  re- 
public could  exist,  without  virtue  and  honesty  in  the 
people,  and  warned  his  hearers  of  the  danger  of  enact- 
ing laws,  which  should  encourage  the  citizens  to  make 
light  of  the  faith  of  contracts.  On  the  subject  of  the 
tender-l^w,  (which  allowed  a  man  to  pay  a  debt  of  one 
hundred  dollars,  with  paper  money  not  worth  one  dollar) 
he  pathetically  pictured  the  ruin  of  the  widow  and 
orphan,  whose  whole  fortune,  perhaps,  consisted  in  loans, 
which  under  this  law,  might  be  repaid  "  in  rags  and 
paper/' 

He  also  vehemently  opposed  the  proposition  to  con- 
fiscate British  debts,  and  that  to  impede  the  recovery 
of  them,  He  declared,  that  the  first  proposition,  under 
the  circumstances  of  our  case,  would  violate  all  princi- 
ples of  honesty  and  national  honour.  To  the  argument, 
that  in  the  case  of  a  revolution,  necessity  justified  the 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  237 

measure,  he  replied,  that  it  would  be  a  direct  encourage- 
ment to  the  debtors  in  a  community,  to  create  revolutions; 
and,  that  it  would  be  a  matter  of  no  consideration  with 
them,  that  their  debts  were  due  to  foreign  creditors.  The 
war  was  over;  and  the  people  ought,  by  industry,  now 
that  they  were  freemen,  honestly  to  pay  their  debts.  This 
would  inculcate  virtuous  principles,  which  alone  could 
secure  their  freedom. 

Mr.  Lee,  very  early  after  the  peace,  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  propriety  and  to  the  consideration  of  the  most 
expedient  mode  of  funding  the  public  debt  of  the  state, 
and  of  providing  as  efficiently  as  possible  for  the  support 
of  public  credit.  To  these  concerns  he  gave  profound 
and  serious  consideration,  both  in  respect  to  his  native 
state  and  to  the  confederation.  He,  with  Mr.  Henry, 
were  advocates  of  a  proposition  to  make  every  man  con- 
tribute something  to  the  support  of  the  Christian  religion, 
as  the  only  sure  basis  of  private  and  public  morality.* 
Both  these  gentlemen  were  utterly  opposed,  however,  to 
any  established  state  religion.  On  the  contrary,  they 
were  strenuous  advocates  of  an  entire  freedom  of  reli- 
gious  belief.  Mr.  Lee's  opinions  on  these  and  various 
other  important  and  interesting  political  subjects,  may 
be  more  fully  and  agreeably  learned,  from  a  perusal  of 
his  correspondence  in  the  years  1784-5,  than  from  any 
detailed  statement  which  his  biographer  could  make. 

Mr.  Lee  was  re-elected  to  the  Virginia  Assembly,  in 
the  spring  of  '83,  and  served  throughout  its  session  of  that 
year. 

During  the  winter  of  383,  intelligence  reached  Ame 
rica  that  provisional  articles  of  peace  had  been  signed  at 
Paris,  between  our  commissioners  and  those  of  Great 
Britain,  in  which  the  sovereignty  and  independence  of 
the  United  States  were  acknowledged,  and  the  right  of 
the  fisheries,  and  the  free  and  entire  navigation  of  the 

*  This  is  done  in  many  of  the  eastern  states,  whose  constitutions 
are  as  republican,  or  democratic,  as  those  of  any  of  the  southern 
states ;  and  where  the  most  unfettered  freedom  of  religious  opi- 
nion exists. 


238  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

Mississippi  were  ceded,  to  the  full  extent  to  which  Mr. 
Lee  had  so  strenuously  advocated  a  claim,  in  the  secret 
session  of  '79.  To  bring,  in  some  degree,  to  the  view 
of  the  reader,  the  estimation  in  which  Mr.  Lee's  services 
were  held  by  the  patriots  of  those  days,  a  letter  from 
General  Whipple  is  here  inserted.  The  reader  will  find 
much  evidence  to  the  same  effect,  in  the  body  of  corre- 
spondence. 

«  PORTSMOUTH,  (N.  H.)  17th  April,  1783. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  cannot  omit  an  opportunity  that 
offers  by  a  vessel  bound  to  Virginia,  to  congratulate  you 
on  the  happy  event  which,  for  many  years,  has  been  the 
great  object  of  your  labours  and  anxious  cares.  The 
very  unequivocal  part  you,  my  dear  friend,  have  taken, 
in  this  great  revolution,  must  furnish  your  hours  of  retire- 
ment with  the  most  pleasing  reflections.  Though  the 
terms  may  not  be,  in  all  respects,  exactly  conformable  to 
our  wishes,  they  are,  perhaps,  equal  to  what  we  had  a 
right  to  expect,  all  things  considered. 

My  happiness  is  greatly  increased  by  this  joyous  event, 
as  it  opens  a  prospect  of  seeing  you  here.  I  already  an- 
ticipate the  pleasure  of  recapitulating  with  you  those 
private  as  well  as  public  consultations,  in  which  you  took 
so  eminent  a  part,  and  which  have  produced  such  happy 
effects. 

This  country,  my  dear  sir,  is  very  particularly  obliged 
for  your  exertions  to  secure  the  most  valuable  branch  of 
her  trade,  the  fisheries.  As  a  small  token  of  my  sense 
of  the  obligation,  I  must  beg  your  acceptance  of  a  quin- 
tal of  fish,  which.  I  think  is  of  the  best  quality. 

With  very  particular  attachment,  and  the  greatest  re- 
spect, I  am,  my  dear  sir,  your  most  affectionate  friend 
and  humble  servant, 

WM.  WHIPPLE. 

Hon.  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE." 

In  the  spring  of  '84,  Mr.  Lee  was  again  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  General  Assembly,  by  the  people  of  West- 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

uiorelandy  who  still  clung  to  their  long  tried  friend  and 
servant  with  unabated  confidence  and  attachment.  He 
appeared  in  his  seat  in  that  body,  and  was  by  it  again 
chosen  a  deputy  to  Congress. 

Peace  being  established,  Mr.  Lee's  services  were  no 
longer  required  in  his  native  state.  He  therefore  accept- 
ed the  honour  again  conferred  upon  him,  and  took  his 
seat  in  Congress  on  the  first  of  November,  1784.  On 
the  thirtieth  of  that  month,  the  chair  of  the  presidency 
being  vacant,  he  was  elected  president  of  Congress,  the 
most  honourable  and  important  station  under  the  Ameri- 
can confederation.  The  Congress  was  in  session  the 
whole  year  1785.  Mr.  Lee's  health  having  been  much 
improved,  by  the  exercise  of  a  more  active  life,  during 
the  last  two  or  three  years  he  continued  in  Congress, 
during  the  whole  of  that  year,  and  with  his  wonted  vigour 
and  zeal,  discharged  the  duties  of  his  office.  These 
duties  were  not  confined  to  the  sittings  of  the  House5 
but  concerned  every  department  of  the  public  business. 
Correspondence  with  all  foreign  ministers  was  conducted 
by  the  president  of  Congress.  The  author  finds  among 
the  manuscripts  of  Mr.  Lee,  several  diplomatic  notes  and 
other  communications,  between  Mr.  Lee  and  foreign 
ministers,  which  are  fine  specimens  of  the  dignified  diplo- 
macy of  the  pristine  age  of  the  republic. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  presidential  year,  Mr.  Lee 
returned  to  Virginia,  from  whence  he  had  been  absent 
twelve  months.  Upon  his  retirement  from  the  chair  of 
the  president,  it  was  Resolved, li  that  the  thanks  of  Con- 
gress be  presented  to  his  excellency,  Richard  Henry 
Lee,  for  his  able  and  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
president,  while  acting  in  that  important  station/5* 

Mr.  Lee  was  re-elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
Assembly  in  the  spring  of  '86,  and  served  in  its  session, 
In  the  spring  of  the  year  '87,  he  was  again  elected  to 
that  Assembly,  and  while  a  member  of  it,  was  elected  a 
deputy  to  Congress,  of  which  body,  he  once  more  be- 

See  Journals,  November  4,  1785. 


£40  L1FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

came  an  able  and  conspicuous  member.  He  was  one 
of  the  committe  which  penned  and  reported  the  famous 
"  Ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States,  north  west  of  the  river  Ohio."  By  the 
fourth  article  of  this  instrument,  "  slavery  and  involuntary 
servitude,  except  in  the  punishment  of  crimes/'  is  pro- 
hibited. The  states  formed  under  its  provisions,  are 
flourishing  with  a  vigour  and  luxuriance,  unexampled  in 
any  age  or  country. 

Mr.  Lee  was  present  in  Congress,  from  the  ninth  of 
July,  '87,  until  the  end  of  that  year. 

The  delegates  from  the  several  states  who  had  been 
appointed  to  amend  the  articles  of  the  confederation, 
met  early  in  the  month  of  September  of  the  year  '87, 
Mr.  Lee  joined  in  the  vote  by  which  Congress  submit- 
ted the  plan  of  a  new  federal  constitution  to  conventions 
of  the  people  of  the  states.  Mr.  Lee  was  not  a  mem- 
ber of  the  convention  in  Virginia  which  discussed  and 
finally  adopted  the  present  federal  constitution.  He 
was,  however,  a  strenuous  opponent  of  its  adoption  as 
it  was  reported  to  Congress  by  the  convention  at  Phila- 
delphia. He,  as  well  as  many  of  the  ablest  patriots  of 
that  day,  thought  they  saw  in  it  a  consolidation  of  the 
political  powers  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
which  would  effectually  destroy  the  independence  of 
the  state  governments.  The  objections  of  Mr.  Lee  to 
the  constitution,  and  his  arguments  in  support  of  them, 
may  be  seen  by  the  reader  in  eloquent  and  powerful  de- 
tail, in  his  letters  in  the  body  of  correspondence  written 
during  the  years  1787,  and  1788.  The  correspondence 
then  maintained  between  the  venerable  S.  Adams  and 
Mr.  Lee,  is  well  worthy  of  the  considerate  perusal  of 
every  American  statesman.  It  will  command  his  pro- 
found attention,  and  will  repay  the  lively  interest  which 
every  citizen  is  disposed  to  take  in  the  political  writ- 
ings of  such  distinguished  statesmen,  who  lived  in  those 
times  in  which  the  present  form  of  government  was 
devised  and  adopted. 

Although  Mr.  Lee  opposed  the  adoption  of  the  new 


OF  RICHAHD  HENRY  LEE.  24,1 

constitution  as  it  was  originally  proposed,  yet,  he  dis- 
countenanced by  his  example  and  advice  all  warmth  and 
violence.      He  earnestly    advised  his  friends  and  his 
fellow  citizens,  to  consider  and  discuss  its  principles  and 
provisions  with  candour,  coolness,  and  temper.     If  the 
reason  and  judgment  of  the  people  should  induce  a  ma- 
jority to  adopt  it,  he  strongly  dissuaded  the  minority  from 
all  intemperance  of  opposition,  and  advised  them  to  re- 
sort to  the  method  only  provided  by  the  constitution  for 
its  amendment.     Entertaining  the  opinion  that  its  ten- 
dency to  consolidation  was  fatally  strong,  he  fondly  in- 
dulged the  hope  that  such  amendments  would  be  recom- 
mended by  the  first  Congress,  as  would  in  a  great  degree, 
if  not  entirely,  counteract  the  danger  which  he  so  much 
dreaded.  It  is  well  known  how  entirely  Mr.  Henry  coin- 
cided with  him  in  his  views  on  this  most  important  subject 
Hence,  when  the  Assembly  of  Virginia  was  about  to 
proceed  to  the  election  of  senators  from  this  state  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Henry  nominated  Mr. 
Lee  and  Mr.  Grayson  for  this  honour,  in  opposition  to 
two  other  gentlemen,  one  of  whom  was  Mr.  Madison, 
the  distinguished  advocate  of  the  constitution.     Mr.  Lee 
and  Mr.  Grayson  were  elected  the  first  senators  from 
Virginia,  under  the  present  general  government. 

Mr.  Lee,  very  soon  after  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Se- 
nate of  the  United  States,  moved  several  amendments, 
the  object  of  which  was  to  provide  effectual  checks 
upon  the  powers  of  the  general  government,  and  strong 
and  distinct  guards  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States.      The  author  has  understood,  that  Mr.   Lee 
first  moved  the  tenth  amendment,  at  present  a  part  of 
the  federal  constitution.     Had  it  been  adopted  as  he 
moved  it  in  the  Senate,  it  would  have  formed  a  much 
more  powerful  guard  to  "  state  rights"  than  it  now  does. 
He  proposed  it  in  these  words:  "The  powers  not  dele- 
gated by  the  constitution  to  the  United  States,  nor  pro- 
hibited by  it  to  the  states,  are  reserved  to  the  states 
respectively."    The  reader  will  perceive  the  difference 
VOL.  i, — H  h 


LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

between  the  proposed,  and  the  adopted  amendment. 
The  author  has  heard  that  Mr.  Ellsworth  of  Massachu- 
setts, moved  to  add  the  words,  "  or  to  the  people,"  which 
were  adopted. 

Mr.  Lee  served  two  sessions  in  the  Senate,  and  main- 
tained his  reputation,  as  a  statesman  and  an  orator,  un- 
impaired. Having  done  all  in  his  power  to  lessen  what 
he  thought  the  dangers  to  be  apprehended  from  the  ex- 
tensive powers  delegated  to  the  federal  government,  and 
being  in  a  degree  satisfied  by  the  amendment  to  the  con- 
stitution which  he  lived  to  see  adopted,  he  became,  and 
continued  to  the  end  of  his  life,  a  warm  supporter  of 
the  administration  of  Washington.  He  approved  of  the 
course  pursued  by  him  in  the  case  of  Genet,  and  ap- 
plauded his  declaration  of  neutrality.  Soon  after  the 
declaration  was  proclaimed,  there  was  a  meeting  of 
several  of  the  inhabitants  of  Fredericksburg,  in  Vir- 
ginia, in  which  resolutions  condemning  this  measure, 
and  inimical  in  their  tenour  to  Washington,  were  passed. 
Mr.  Lee  was,  at  the  time  he  heard  of  these  resolutions, 
at  the  residence  of  one  of  his  sons,  which  was  not  far 
distant  from  Mount  Vernon.  He  immediately  wrote  a 
long  and  friendly  letter  to  General  Washington,  in  which 
he  denounced  his  enemies,  and  assured  him  of  his  ap- 
probation and  support.  To  this  letter,  the  last  he  ever 
wrote  on  political  affairs,  the  father  of  his  country  re- 
turned a  most  affectionate  reply.  The  letter  of  Gene- 
ral Washington,  and  a  copy  of  the  letter  of  Mr.  Lee, 
were  for  many  years  in  the  possession  of  his  son.  The 
author  regrets  their  loss.  They  were  highly  valuable 
and  interesting. 

The  enfeebled  state  of  Mr.  Lee's  health  forced  him  to 
resign  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
year  1792.  The  following  vote  of  thanks  to  him,  was 
moved  in  the  Senate  of  Virginia,  and  was  unanimously 
agreed  to.  It  was,  with  equal  unanimity,  concurred  in 
by  the  House  of  Delegates. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

"  OCTOBER  22d,  1792. 

In  Senate. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  the  speaker  be  desired 
to  convey  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Esq.  the  respects  of 
the  Senate;  that  they  sincerely  sympathize  with  him  in 
those  infirmities  which  have  deprived  their  country 
of  his  valuable  services;  and  that  they  ardently  wish 
he  may,  in  his  retirement,  with  uninterrupted  happiness, 
close  the  evening  of  a  life,  in  which  he  hath  so  conspicu- 
ously shone  forth  as  a  statesman  and  a  patriot;  that  while 
mindful  of  his  many  exertions  to  promote  the  public  in- 
terests, they  are  particularly  thankful  for  his  conduct,  as 
a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  the  United  States.'3 

The  following  notes  are  the  replies  made  by  Mr.  Lee 
to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Delegates. 

«  CHANTILLY,  5th  November,  1792. 

SIR — I  have  been  duly  honoured  with  the  letter  (and 
its  enclosure)  that  you  were  pleased  to  write  to  me  on 
the  eighteenth  October.  I  pray  you,  sir,  to  assure  the 
honourable  House  of  Delegates,  that  I  feel  the  deepest 
sense  of  gratitude  and  obligation  for  the  good  opinion  that 
they  are  pleased  to  entertain  of  my  services,  and  for  the 
condescending  and  obliging  wish  that  they  express  for 
the  future  prospects  of  my  life.  I  have  ever  thought, 
that  the  best  reward  for  public  service,  is  the  approba- 
tion of  our  country;  and  surely  examples  like  this  are 
wisely  fitted  to  encourage  patriotic  zeal,  and  to  support  the 
servants  of  the  public,  through  the  perplexing  intricacies 
of  political  life.  To  you,  sir,  my  thanks  are  particularly 
due,  for  the  very  polite  and  affectionate  manner  in  which 
you  have  been  so  good  as  to  convey  to  me  the  sense  of 
the  House. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be.  with  all  possible  respect,  sir, 
your  most  obliged  and  most  obedient  servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEF 

Honourable  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Delegates." 


L1FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

"  CHANTILLY,  5th  November,  1792. 

SIR — I  have  received  the  letter  you  did  me  the  honour 
to  write  to  me,  on  the  twenty-third  of  October,  with  the 
resolve  enclosed  therein.  Be  so  good,  sir,  as  to  present 
my  duty  to  the  Senate,  and  assure  that  honourable  body 
that  I  feel,  as  I  ought  to  do,  the  highest  sense  of  obliga- 
tion, for  the  honour  conferred  upon  me,  by  the  manner 
in  which  they  have  been  pleased  to  express  their  sense 
of  my  services,  and  for  the  obliging  wish,  they  have  ex- 
pressed, for  the  future  happiness  of  my  life.  I  wish  it 
may  be  the  good  fortune  of  those  who  follow  me,  to  serve 
masters  willing  to  crown  their  labours,  by  bestowing 
upon  them  a  reward  so  respectable  as  I  have  been  fa- 
voured with. 

I  thank  you,  sir,  for  the  kind  manner  of  conveying  to 
me  the  sense  of  the  Senate;  and  I  remain,  with  the 
highest  respect,  sir,  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble 
servant, 

RICHARD  HENRY  LEE, 

Honourable  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate." 

Mr.  Lee  now  finally  retired  from  all  public  employ- 
ments. 

Having  thus  presented  to  view  the  public  life  and 
character  of  Mr.  Lee,  it  remains  for  his  biographer  to 
relate  such  traits  of  his  private  life  as  may  show,  that  he 
was  justly  entitled  to  that  esteem  and  affection  of  his 
fellow  citizens,  of  his  family  and  friends,  which  accom- 
panied him  to  his  latest  hour. 

His  early  days  were  spent  in  a  truly  Spartan  style. 
His  mother,  who  was  one  of  the  high-toned  aristocracy 
of  the  day,  confined  all  her  care  and  attention  to  her 
daughters  and  her  eldest  son,  who  was  to  be  the  head  of 
the  family,  and  gave  up  her  younger  sons,  when  boys, 
to  be  fed,  in  a  great  measure,  by  their  own  enterprise 
and  exertions,  without  which,  they  might  often  have 
wanted  the  necessaries  of  life.  To  this  circumstance 
may  be  attributed,  in  a  great  measure,  that  vigour  of  mind 
and  body  which  they  afterwards  enjoyed. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE,  245 

Having  finished  his  academical  course  of  studies  at 
Wakefield,  in  England,  Mr.  Lee  travelled  through  that 
country,  visited  its  great  metropolis,  and  brought  with 
him,  to  his  native  home,  that  refinement  of  manners 
which  graced  both  the  forum  and  the  fireside. 

Soon  after  his  first  marriage,(to  gratify  the  wishes  of 
his  eldest  brother,  who  was  so  fond  of  him  that  he  would 
not  consent  that  he  should  live  far  from  him,)  he  was  in- 
duced to  reside  in  the  county  of  Westmoreland;  the  situ- 
ation was  unhealthy,  and  the  soil  not  rich;  but  being  on 
a  river,  it  possessed  some  compensating  advantages. 
Here,  by  that  active,  intelligent,  and  persevering  indus- 
try, for  which  he  was  so  much  distinguished,  he  was  en- 
abled to  live  in  a  style  of  comfort  and  independence  equal 
to  that  of  his  more  wealthy  friends.* 

His  house  was  always  filled  with  guests,  whom  the 
suavity  of  his  manners,  his  frank  and  generous  hospitality, 
his  strong  and  instructive  conversation,  at  once  invited  and 
pleased.  To  the  neighbouring  poor  he  was  a  friend,  an 
instructor,  their  physician,  and  the  arbiter  of  their  differ- 
ences. He  imported,  annually,  a  quantity  of  the  best 
medicines,  from  the  u  Apothecary's  Hall,"  in  London, 
when  he  could  do  so,  for  their  use;  and  administered  it 
to  them,  with  kindness  and  effect.  It  was,  indeed,  pleas- 
ing to  witness,  the  affection  and  veneration  with  which 
they  always  approached  him.  A  strong  proof  of  the 
regard  his  neighbours  and  fellow  citizens  bore  him,  was 
shown  by  the  fact,  that  he  never  lost  an  election  in  his 
native  county.  Hence  he,  at  all  times,  triumphed  with 
ease  over  every  effort  of  calumny  and  envy  to  injure  him; 
for,  unfortunately  for  man,  the  purest  virtue,  and  the 
greatest  merit,  never  escape  the  attacks  of  bad  men, 
governed  by  such  passions.  It  may  be  remarked,  too, 

*  He  was  very  fond  of  the  society  of  learned  medical  gentlemen, 
and  his  intercourse  and  correspondence  with  them,  were  not  con- 
fined to  his  own  country.  Dr.  Fothergill  and  others  were  his 
correspondents.  See  his  letter,  in  the  body  of  correspondence, 
to  Dr.  Blane,  of  England,  thanking  him  for  the  present  of  his 
«  Treatise  on  the  Diseases  *f  Seamen." 


246  L1FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

that  he  enjoyed,  throughout  a  period  of  more  than  thirty 
years,  the  confidence  and  honours  of  his  state. 

But  it  was  in  the  -domestic  circle,  that  the  evenness 
and  amiableness  of  his  temper,  his  good  sense,  and  in- 
dustry, were  most  conspicuous.  At  an  early  period  of 
their  marriage,  he  lost  his  wife,  who  left  him  four  young 
and  infant  children.  The  busy  scenes  of  public  life,  in 
which  he  was  then  engaged,  and  the  young  and  helpless 
state  of  his  children,  soon  forced  him  to  think  of  a 
second  marriage.  He  succeeded  in  securing  a  partner 
for  his  after  life,  every  way  worthy  of  him.  Although 
his  patrimony  was  not  great,  and  his  public  engagements 
were  numerous,  constant,  and  onerous,  yet  such  were  the 
ardent  exertions  of  his  ever-active  mind,  that  he  found 
means  to  send  his  two  oldest  sons  to  England,  and  to 
France,  for  their  education,  and  supported  his  children 
who  remained  at  home,  with  such  equal  and  impartial 
fondness,  as  drew  them  together,  by  those  strong  cords 
of  mutual  affection,  which  never  permitted  them  to  feel 
the  difference  of  parentage. 

Although  one  of  the  kindest  and  fondest  of  parents, 
doing  every  thing  to  please  and  divert  his  children,  yet 
he  was  ever  rigid  in  exacting  their  performance  of  moral 
duties;  and  such  was  the  power  of  his  rebuke,  and  the 
influence  of  his  parental  authority  and  affection,  that 
they  never  stood  in  need  of  bodily  correction,  to  be 
made  to  feel  their  errors,  and  avoid  them.* 

The  great  esteem  and  affection  with  which  he  was 

*  The  author  has  heard  an  anecdote  related  by  a  son  of  Mr. 
Lee,  which  will  illustrate  his  character  in  this  respect.  He  had 
entrusted  one  of  his  sons  with  a  key,  to  give  to  a  servant  some- 
thing that  was  wanted ;  he  happened  to  be  passing  by  the  door 
of  the  room  to  which  he  had  sent  his  son,  and  saw  the  servant 
coming  out  of  it,  with  that,  which  he  had  not  desired  his  son  to 
let  him  have.  He  called  his  son  to  him,  and  in  a  mild,  but  seri- 
ous manner,  told  him  of  the  impropriety,  on  any  occasion,  of 
bi caking  the  trust  reposed  in  him;  and  impressed  upon  him,  the 
consequences  which  would  follow,  from  allowing  himself  to  do 
so,  upon  any  account.  The  boy  went  into  the  house  crying,  and 
when  asked  by  his  mother,  «  what  was  the  matter,"  he  replied, 
"  my  father  has  been  talking  to  me  about  consequences" 


OF  RICHARD  HfcNRY  LEE. 

regarded  by  his  brothers,  were  shown  by  two  of  them, 
who  died,  without  children,  bequeathing  to  his  sons, 
their  large  estates,  almost  entire. 

A  long  and  laborious  course  of  public  life,  had  gradually 
enfeebled  a  vigorous  constitution;  and  the  gout,  which  he 
alone,  of  all  his  family,  was  subject  to,  by  making  its  most 
violent  attacks  on  the  abdominal  viscera,  extremely  de- 
bilitated his  body;  yet  his  mind  never  lost  its  vigour.  For 
at  least  ten  years  labouring  under  its  pernicious  effects, 
he  continued  his  public  services,  and  his  private  exer- 
tions. It  was  a  peculiar  trait  of  his  character,  that  when 
once  his  mind  sought  information  upon  any  subject,  he 
never  relinquished  the  pursuit,  until  he  had  perfectly 
satisfied  his  mind  respecting  it.  Guided  by  these  prin- 
ciples, he  read  and  studied  every  medical  author,  who 
treated  of  the  disease  with  which  he  was  afflicted,  and 
discovered  a  remedy,  that,  for  many  years  preserved  his 
own  life,  and  has  been  the  means,  under  God,  of  reliev- 
ing others  *  But  human  efforts  must  have  their  termina- 
tion. The  dire  disease,  against  which  he  had  so  long  and 
skilfully  contended,  was  destined  to  put  an  end  to  his 
virtuous  and  useful  life. 

He  had  retired  from  public  service,  with  the  thanks 
and  applause  of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  for  two  years, 
passed  his  time  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  by  whom  he 
was  almost  idolized.  Although  no  longer  engaged  in 
her  service,  his  rnind  always  dwelt  on  the  freedom,  the 
honour,  and  happiness  of  his  beloved  country.  The 
events  of  the  French  revolution,  and  the  principles  of  its 
leaders,  had  become  subjects  of  anxious  consideration  to 
his  mind.  The  dawn  of  that  revolution  he  had  heartily 

*  The  late  General  Henry  Lee,  who  was  a  member,  with  him, 
when  Congress  sat  in  New  York,  related  an  anecdote  of  a  gentle- 
man of  that  state,  who  came  to  the  city,  for  relief  against  chronic 
diarrhoea.  General  Lee  saw  him  about  to  leave  the  city,  in  despair 
— all  medical  aid  had  failed.  He  advised  him  to  see,  and  intro- 
duced him  to  Mr  Lee,  who  gave  him  his  recipe.  In  a  short  time 
after,  General  Lee  saw  the  gentleman  on  his  way  home,  quite 
well,  who  ascribed  his  recovery  entirely  to  Mr.  Lee's  advice. 


248  L1FE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

cheered;  but  its  day  had  become,  to  his  vision,  overcast 
with  portentous  clouds.  What  his  prophetic  mind  then 
foretold,  history  can  now  prove  true;  and  often  was  he 
heard  to  mourn,  lest  the  phrenzy  of  France,  which 
seemed  ready  to  overturn  all  the  fixed  principles  of 
liberty,  religion,  and  virtue,  might,  in  a  fatal  degree, 
reach  his  native  land,  where  he  had  trusted  these  salu- 
tary principles  were  destined  to  be  permanent. 

For  six  months  before  his  death,  Mr.  Lee  was  almost 
entirely  confined  to  his  house.  He  saw  his  end  approach- 
ing, and  through  faith  in  the  merits  of  the  Redeemer, 
viewed  it  with  tranquil  firmness.  He  had  well  fulfilled 
all  the  duties  of  life.  As  a  patriot,  as  a  friend  to  the 
liberty  of  mankind,  as  a  parent,  friend,  and  neighbour, 
he,  like  the  younger  Cato,  whose  character  he  much 
resembled,  could  say,  "  let  guilt  or  fear  disturb  man's 
conscience,  Cato  knows  neither  of  them;"  and  that 
"  nature,  worn  out  with  care,  sunk  down  to  rest"  It 
was  the  rest,  prepared  for  those,  whose  virtues  the  great 
Parent  of  good,  has  approved;  and  which  will  be  enjoy- 
ed by  all,  who  devote  their  lives  to  the  happiness  of 
their  fellow  men,  and  to  the  duties  they  owe  to  their 
saving  God. 

Mr.  Lee  had  early  studied  the  evidences  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  and  had,  through  life,  avowed  his  belief  in 
its  divine  origin.  He  admired  the  perfection  of  its  mo- 
rality, and  the  sublimity  of  its  peculiar  theology.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church;  and  although 
a  hearty  friend  to  all  who  professed  the  Gospel,  he  was 
strongly  attached  to  the  Church  to  which  he  belonged. 
The  author  found  amongst  his  manuscripts,  two  votes 
passed  by  the  two  first  meetings  of  the  general  conven- 
tion of  that  Church,  in  the  United  States,  in  which  their 
thanks  are  returned  to  Mr.  Lee,  for  the  interest  he  had 
taken  in  its  prosperity. 

Let  not  the  infidel  say,  that  Mr.  Lee's  assent  to  the 
truths  of  Christianity,  was  given  in  the  twilight  of  his 
reason,  and  proclaimed  at  the  approach  of  death.  In 
the  vigour  of  his  mind,  amid  the  honours  of  the  world 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE.  £49 

- 

and  its  enjoyment,  he  had  declared  his  belief,  in  Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  saviour  of  men!  For  many  years  of  his 
life,  he  had  partaken,  in  public,  of  the  emblems  of  that 
propitiatory  atonement,  which  he  made  upon  the  cross, 
"for  the  sin  of  the  world." 

The  eloquent  Erskine  has  truly  said,  after  reviewing 
a  glorious  list  of  believers  in  Christianity,  "  Thus  we 
find  all  that  is  great,  or  wise,  or  splendid,  or  illustrious, 
amongst  created  beings,  all  the  minds  gifted  beyond  or- 
dinary nature,  if  not  inspired  by  their  Universal  Author, 
for  the  advancement  and  dignity  of  the  world,  though 
divided  by  distant  ages,  and  by  the  clashing  opinions  dis- 
tinguishing them  from  one  another,  yet  joining,  as  it 
were,  in  one  sublime  chorus,  to  celebrate  the  truths  of 
Christianity,  and  laying  upon  its  holy  altars,  the  never- 
fading  fruits  of  their  immortal  wisdom."  To  that  list 
may  be  added  the  name  of  Richard  Henry  Lee. 

Mr.  Lee  breathed  his  last,  on  the  19th  day  of  June, 
in  the  year  1794,  at  his  seat,  Chantilly,  in  the  county  of 
Westmoreland,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age;  a 
few  weeks  before  the  celebration  of  the  day,  on  which, 
his  eloquent  tongue,  and  intrepid  mind,  had  given  birth 
to  the  independence  of  his  country! 

It  is  a  subject  of  regret,  that  no  genuine  specimen  of 
the  eloquence  of  Mr.  Lee,  remains.  The  author  has 
not  had  the  good  fortune  to  enjoy  the  acquaintance  of 
any  of  his  cotemporaries,  from  whom  he  could  obtain  a 
sketch  of  the  principal  traits  of  his  oratory. 

Mr.  Lee  possessed  all  the  qualifications  necessary  to 
a  finished  orator.  His  person  was  tali  and  well  propor- 
tioned. The  features  of  his  face  were  bold  and  striking; 
and  were  always,  particularly  in  debate,  arid  conversa- 
tion, irradiated  by  an  eye,  pouring  intelligence  over 
them.  His  gesture  was  elegant,  and  admirably  appro- 
priate, resulting  from  a  nature,  ardent,  honest,  and  sin- 
cere. His  voice  was  clear  and  melodious,  and  was  mo- 
dulated by  the  feeling  that  swayed  his  bosom.  His  elo- 
cution was  dignified,  animated,  and  impressive.  His 
whole  manner  was  fervid,  manly,  and  commanding. 

VOL.  i. — i  i 


250  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE 

His  style  was  pure  and  classic,  adorned  by  brilliant 
periods,  by  the  happiest  classical  allusions,  by  the  rich- 
est truths  of  ethics,  and  by  figures,  which  pictured  the 
resemblance  of  the  originals.  It  was  distinguished 
by  a  "  nervous  brevity,"  or  splendid  amplification,  as 
the  auditory,  the  subject,  and  the  occasion  required. 
One  who  was  well  qualified  to  judge,  has  said  of  Mr. 
Lee,  "  He  was  indisputably  a  graceful  orator,  but  his 
elegance  was  natural.  His  mind  had  treasures  of 
various  knowledge,  to  which  he  could  readily  resort; 
but,  on  occasions  of  importance,  he  studiously  prepared 
himself  for  debate.  He  well  knew,  how  and  when  to 
be  diffuse  and  copious:  but  strength  and  conciseness 
were  the  characteristics  of  his  eloquence.  Dr.  Rush 
said  of  him,  u  I  never  knew  so  great  an  orator,  whose 
speeches  were  so  short.  Indeed,  I  might  almost  say, 
that  he  could  not  speak  long.  He  conceived  his  subject 
so  clearly,  and  presented  it  so  immediately  to  his  hearers, 
that  there  appeared  nothing  more  to  be  said  about  it. 
He  did  not  use  figures  to  ornament  discourse,  but  made 
them  the  vehicles  of  argument."* 

Mr.  Lee  was  considered  an  accomplished  scholar. 
He  was  acquainted  with  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  French 
languages;  and  was  familiar  with  the  beauties  of  all  the 
classic  authors  in  prose  and  verse,  in  those  tongues,  and 

*  Dr  Rush  used  to  repeat  a  sentence,  as  illustrative  of  the 
conciseness  of  Mr.  Lee's  eloquence,  and  the  force  of  his  figures. 
The  laws  which  had  been  passed,  in  some  of  the  states,  making 
paper  money  a  tender  for  the  payment  of  debts,  were  the  subject 
of  consideration  in  Congress,  Mr.  Lee  had  warmly  opposed 
them,  on  all  occasions.  The  idea  of  getting  rid  of  debts,  in  so 
easy  a  manner,  was  plausible  and  captivating  to  some  financiers; 
but  to  the  mind  of  a  sound  statesman,  no  scheme  seemed  more 
delusive  and  injurious  to  the  real  good  of  a  community.  Some 
member  had  advocated  these  laws  on  the  first  opening  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  seemed,  in  a  speech  just  delivered,  to  be  more  and  more 
wedded  to  the  scheme,  even  after  all  its  consequences  had  been 
shown.  In  answer  to  him,  Mr.  Lee  begun,  says  the  Doctor,  thus, 
u  Mr.  Speaker — I  did  not  wonder  that  the  honourable  gentleman 
was  pleased  with  this  scheme,  when  in  the  bud;  but  I  am  aston- 
ished that  he  grasps  at  the  full  blown  iniquity" 


OF  RICHARD  «ENRY  LEE. 

recurred  to  them  with  ease  and  taste.  He  had  studied 
the  writers  of  established  reputation  on  the  various 
branches  of  science  and  literature.  He  was  extensively 
acquainted  with  history,  and  with  all  the  various  subjects 
necessary  to  form  a  great  and  useful  statesman.  The 
sketch  which  has  been  drawn  of  his  person  and  oratory, 
by  the  hand  of  a  master,  is  no  less  true  than  beautiful. 
"  His  face  was  on  the  Roman  model;  his  nose  Caesarean; 
the  port  and  carriage  of  his  head,  leaning  persuasively 
and  gracefully  forward;  and  the  whole  contour,  noble 
and  fine.  He  had  studied,  the  classics,  in  the  true  spirit 
of  criticism.  His  taste  had  that  delicate  touch,  which 
seized  with  intuitive  certainty,  every  beauty  of  an  author, 
and  his  genius,  that  native  affinity,  which  combined  them 
without  an  effort.  Into  every  walk  of  literature  and 
science,  he  had  carried  this  mind  of  exquisite  selection, 
and  brought  it  back  to  the  business  of  life,  crowned  with 
every  light  of  learning,  and  decked  with  every  wreath 
that  all  the  muses,  and  all  the  graces,  could  entwine. 
Nor  did  these  light  decorations  constitute  the  whole  va- 
lue of  its  freight.  He  possessed  a  rich  store  of  histori- 
cal and  political  knowledge,  with  an  activity  of  observa- 
tion, and  a  certainty  of  judgment,  which  turned  that 
knowledge  to  the  very  best  account.  He  was  not  a 
lawyer  by  profession,  but  he  understood  thoroughly  the 
constitution,  both  of  the  mother  country  and  of  her 
colonies;  and  the  elements  also  of  the  civil  and  municipal 
law.  Thus,  while  his  eloquence  was  free  from  those 
stiff  and  technical  restraints,  which  the  habits  of  forensic 
speaking  are  so  apt  to  generate,  he  had  all  the  legal 
learning  which  is  necessary  to  a  statesman.  He  reasoned 
well,  and  declaimed  freely  and  splendidly.  The  note 
of  his  voice  was  deep  and  melodious.  It  was  the  cano- 
rous voice  of  Cicero.  He  had  lost  the  use  of  one  of 
his  hands,  which  he  kept  constantly  covered  with  a  black 
silk  bandage,  neatly  fitted  to  the  palm  of  his  hand,  but 
leaving  his  thumb  free;  yet,  notwithstanding  this  disad- 
vantage, his  gesture  was  so  graceful  and  highly  finished, 
that  it  is  said  he  had  acquired  it  by  practising  before  a 


AND 

mirror.*  Such  was  his  promptitude,  that  he  required  no 
preparation  for  debate.  He  was  ready  for  any  subject, 
as  soon  as  it  was  announced;  and  his  speech  was  so 
copious,  so  rich,  so  mellifluous,  set  off  with  such  bewitch- 
ing cadence  of  voice,  and  such  captivating  grace  of 
action,  that  while  you  listened  to  him,  you  desired  to 
hear  nothing  superior,  and  indeed  thought  him  perfect. 
He  had  a  quick  sensibility,  and  a  fervid  imagination."! 

Mr.  Lee's  character  as  a  politician,  was  strongly 
marked.  "  His  earliest  impressions  were  in  favour  of 
the  most  disinterested  mode  of  serving  the  public/'  As 
rigidly  honest  and  upright  in  public,  as  he  was  in  private 
life,  he  never  felt,  and  never  admitted  the  truth  of  the 
ancient  remark,  so  often  quoted,  "  in  rebus  politicis, 
nihil  simplex,  nihil  apertum,  nihil  honestum  ;"  and  he 
never  failed  to  censure  with  the  most  pointed  disappro- 
bation, any  act  which  could  be  thus  characterized,  even 
in  his  best  friends,  and  firmest  political  associates.  It 
was  a  maxim  with  him,  which  he  frequently  quoted  as 
invariably  true,  that  "  honesty  is  the  best  policy."  Hence 
he  argued,  that  it  formed  no  excuse  for  a  national  breach 
of  positive  engagements,  that  the  other  party  has  failed 
in  the  fulfilment  of  theirs,  "  for  said  he,  the  cause  of 
honesty  and  virtue,  when  supported  with  firmness,  will 
always  triumph  over  vice  and  bad  faith/'  This  was  the 
principle  and  tenour  of  his  arguments  on  the  subjects, 
of  the  payment  of  the  British  debts,  and  the  surrender 
of  the  posts  on  the  lakes,  as  stipulated  by  the  treaty  of 
peace  between  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States, 
in  1783. 

Of  Mr.  Lee,  it  may  most  truly  be  said,  that  the  love 
of  his  country,  was  "  the  ruling  passion"  of  his  soul. 
This  principle  guided  his  research  into  history,  cheered 


*  This  was  said  to  give  an  idea  of  his  gracefulness;  not  that 
it  was  a  fact. 

t  William  Wirt,  Esq.  in  his  «  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,"  pp.  49, 
50.  In  the  above  extract,  points  of  comparison  with  other  ora- 
tors, are  omitted. 


OF  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 

and  relieved  his  labours,  and  gave  activity  to  all  bis 
energies. 

The  character  of  Mr,  Lee  will  be  contemplated  with 
admiration  by  his  countrymen.  It  adorned  the  infancy 
of  the  republic ;  and  will,  perhaps,  cast  a  light  and 
glory  on  the  maturity  of  its  splendid  destiny ! 


APPENDIX. 


NUMBER  I. 

MY  dear  brother's  favours  all  reached  me  in  due  time,  at 
Bristol  Wells,  where  I  was  spending  the  summer  season,  to 
look  about  me  and  form  acquaintances,  which  may  be  useful 
hereafter.  The  ensuing  winter  I  mean  to  spend  in  Bath, 
where  I  now  am  ;  a  place  to  which  Dr.  Fothergill  advised 
me,  and  where  I  expect  his  patronage.  Your  packet  for 
Lord  Shelburne,  I  shall  deliver  myself  in  a  few  days,  at  his 
country  seat,  about  twenty  miles  off,  where  1  am  to  spend  a 
week.  I  have  not  been  in  London  since  Johnston's  arrival, 
and  as  Dr.  Fothergill  is  probably  in  the  country  I  reserve 
your  letter  to  him  also  to  deliver  myself,  as  I  shall  be  in 
town  soon. 

My  last  letter  from  our  brother  F.  of  the  14th  of  June, 
made  me  exceedingly  unhappy,  as  it  brought  an  account  of 
the  dreadful  accident  which  befell  you  about  that  time.  I 
flatter  myself  that  long  before  you  receive  this,  you  will  have 
received  entire  relief  from  the  effects  of  that  misfortune, 
and  I  cannot  now  help  chiding  you,  for  being  so  very  care- 
less of  a  life  on  which  the  happiness  of  so  many  depend  ;  the 
horses  were  notoriously  vicious,  and  the  dastardly  temper  of 
the  negroes  you  well  know.  How  then  could  you  trust  your- 
self so  absolutely  in  their  power  as  to  injure  yourself  and 
afflict  us  ?  For  heaven's  sake,  remember,  that  you  are  ac- 
countable to  your  country,  and  to  those  who  love  you,  for 
your  personal  safety,  which  cannot  be  injured  without  very 
great  detriment  and  disquietude  to  them.  Heaven  shield  you 
from  such  disasters  for  the  future,  and  grant  you  for  the 
great  share  of  misery  you  have  already  suffered,  an  uninter- 
rupted series  of  prosperity  and  health.  I  may  now  I  hope 
congratulate  you  on  your  marriage  with  Mrs.  Pinkard  :  the 
small  acquaintance  I  had  with  her  gives  me  great  reason  to 
believe,  she  will  make  you  happy  ;  and  I  most  ardently  pray 
that  her  goodness  may  prevent  both  you  and  the  poor  little 


236  APPENDIX. 

ones  who  survive,  from  feeling  the  loss  of  the  tender  and 
amiable  wife  and  mother  that  is  gone. 

The  resolution  into  which  you  have  entered,  and  which  I 
perceive  South  Carolina  has  adopted,  are  in  the  highest  de- 
gree laudable,  and  you  may  depend  upon  it  will  work  your 
salvation.  The  ministry  thinking  it  vain  to  contend  against 
such  virtue  as  they  are  now  convinced  animates  America,  are 
at  present  certainly  disposed  to  conciliatory  measures.  But 
they  are  far  from  being  yet  brought  to  a  due  sense  of  what 
in  justice  they  owe  to  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  colo- 
nies. You  have  commenced  those  measures  which  tend  to 
their  conviction,  and  I  make  no  question  you  will  persevere, 
till  that  important  purpose  is  fully  accomplished.  The  in- 
tent of  the  monitors  I  sent  you  being  entirely  fulfilled,  I  do 
not  ask  what  you  did  with  those  I  sent  you,  though  I  have 
seen  nothing  of  them  in  the  papers. 

The  state  of  politics  at  present  is,  as  appears  to  me,  ex- 
ceedingly complex.  As  far  as  I  can  unravel  them,  they  con- 
sist of  the  court  party,  the  opposition,  and  the  constitutional- 
ists. The  Lords  Holland  and  Bute,  the  Dukes  of  Bedford 
and  Grafton,  form  the  court  party ;  Lords  Temple,  Chatham, 
and  Mr.  Grenville,  with  Rockingham,  compose  the  opposi- 
tion ;  and  my  Lord  Shelburne  heads  the  constitutionalists. 
The  last  party  are  the  promoters  of  petitions,  as  the  most 
proper  method  of  informing  the  people  of  the  constitutional 
power  they  possess,  and  of  rousing  them  against  the  arbi- 
trary measures  of  the  court.  The  opposition,  desirous  of 
changing  men  only  and  not  measures,  are  for  determining 
the  matter  by  the  representative  body  by  intrigue  and  influ- 
ence. The  constitutionalists  are  for  appealing  to  the  people 
at  large,  and  effecting  a  change  of  measures,  as  well  as  of 
men.  Mr.  Wilkes,  and  all  of  his  party  that  are  honest,  with 
Beckford,  Townsend,  Sawbridge,  Mrs.  Macauley,  £c.  are 
what  I  call  constitutionalists.  Of  the  political  writers  Junius 
only  deserves  reading,  and  his  talents  are  certainly  great.  I 
cannot  but  think  that  my  Lord  Shelburne's  abilities  and  vir- 
tue will  force  him  again  into  power  ;  though  they  render  him 
exceedingly  unwelcome  at  court,  where  such  qualities  are  not 
in  estimation.  Happily  for  the  liberties  of  this  country,  the 
court  party  are  at  variance  among  themselves ;  could  they 
agree,  I  do  not  see  what  would  prevent  them,  with  a  corrupt 
House  of  Commons,  vast  influence  from  places  and  money, 
with  a  powerful  army,  from  absolutely  subverting  the  consti- 
tution. But  Bute  possesses  the  ear,  Bedford  the  parliamen- 
tary power ;  Grafton  was  the  representative  of  the  former, 
but  the  latter  ever  jealous  and  ambitious,  has  contrived  to 


APPENDIX.  257 

gain  the  duke  over  by  marriage.  This,  in  all  human  proba- 
bility, was  the  cause  of  Lord  Bute's  precipitate  return,  being 
alarmed,  least  in  consequence  of  that  connexion,  Grafton 
should  betray  him,  and  uniting  with  Bedford,  enable  him  to 
do  what  he  has  long  wished,  exclude  his  lordship  from  all 
influence  in  administration.  When  Peachum  and  Locket 
quarrel,  they  bring  each  other  nearly  to  the  gallows.  Would 
to  heaven,  these  political  villains  may  be  more  irreconcilable 
in  their  anger.  I  am  now7  at  my  Lord  Shelburne's,  where  I 
have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  perfect  domestic  happiness.  Lady 
Shelburne  is  a  pattern  of  every  thing  that  is  amiable  and 
good ;  and  her  lord  seems  perfectly  worthy  of  so  valuable  a 
wife.  Much  reading  has  produced  in  me  the  effect  of  age,  in 
which  confidence  in  political  professions  is  slowly  granted  ; 
and  therefore  highly  as  I  esteem  this  lord,  I  do  not  implicitly 
confide  in  him.  Yet,  if  he  does  not  support  the  genuine  cause 
of  liberty  and  continue  firm  in  constitutional  principles,  I  do 
not  believe  there  is  a  single  man  of  eminence  who  will  vindi- 
cate the  violated  rights  of  the  people.  A  temporary  support 
many  will  give,  but  an  opposition  grounded  on  true  princi- 
ples, and  steadily  pursued,  I  expect  from  him  only.  God  send 
he  may  answer  my  expectations  ;  if  not,  actum  est  de  liber- 
tate.  I  am  not  so  desperate  with  regard  to  America ;  the 
spirit  of  liberty  seems  now  so  truly  and  universally  diffused, 
that  I  do  not  think  it  possible  to  suppress  it ;  and  therefore  I 
look  forward  with  infinite  pleasure  to  that  spirit,  as  the 
surest  nurse  of  British  constitutional  liberty.  I  some  time 
since  sent  enclosed  to  Mr.  Parker  and  you,  the  proceedings 
respecting  the  Mississippi  company.  Nothing  certain  is  to 
be  expected  from  this  ministry  :  when  it  is  changed,  I  shall 
not  fail  to  resume  the  solicitation. 

I  beg  you  will  give  my  most  cordial  thanks  to  all  those  of 
my  acquaintance,  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
resolution  of  not  consuming  British  manufactures,  and  of 
maintaining  firmly  their  constitutional  rights.  As  a  friend  to 
freedom,  I  esteem  myself  infinitely  obliged  to  every  one  who 
supports  it. 

My  inviolable  regard  awaits  you  and  yours.     Adieu. 

ARTHUR  LEE. 

P.  S.  Pray,  remember  me  to  our  brother  Thomas  ,•  I  never 
hear  of  or  from  him,  which  I  very  much  regret  My  best 
wishes  attend  Belvieu. 

August  1 5th,  1769. 

VOL.  I.— K  k 


APPENDIX 


BATH,  November  15th,  1769. 

Mr  DEAR  BROTHER — It  appears  to  me  a  very  long  time 
since  I  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  you.  In  the  mean 
time  I  please  myself  with  supposing  you,  with  the  rest  of 
America,  are  working  your  own  salvation  by  frugality  and 
industry.  Pertinent  to  this  are  your  questions  to  our  brother 
William,  concerning  the  glass  manufactory :  in  which,  I  am 
sorry  to  inform  you,  no  satisfactory  information  can  be  ob- 
tained. Much  care  is  taken  at  Bristol  to  provide  against  the 
loss  of  workmen  ;  they  are,  therefore,  articled  for  a  certain 
time,  and  their  wages  artfully  advanced,  so  as  to  keep  them 
constantly  in  arrear,  and  thence  in  bondage.  A  very  few 
only  are  entrusted  with  the  secret  of  the  materials,  and  their 
proportions.  I  wrote  to  a  merchant  of  Bristol,  immediately 
on  my  brother's  receiving  yours,  for  more  precise  informa- 
tion ;  but  he  has  never  answered  me,  probably  through  some 
jealousy  in  himself,  or  an  apprehension  of  it  in  others.  New- 
castle would  be  the  best  place,  I  apprehend,  not  only  to  make 
inquiries  without  suspicion,  but  to  apply  for  workmen.  *flerici 
persevere,  must  be  the  motto  of  America.  The  people  here 
do  not  yet  complain  much  of  the  want  of  trade  arising  from 
the  stoppage  of  American  exports  ;  but,  by  persevering,  they 
will  feel,  and  then  will  infallibly  complain.  What  the  minis- 
try will  do  in  the  perturbed  state  of  the  empire,  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  it  is  difficult  to  say;  what  they  wish  to  do,  is 
more  easily  imagined.  Great,  certainly,  is  the  struggle  be- 
tween their  arbitrary  inclinations,  and  their  fears  to  execute 
them. 

The  Mississippi  affair  rests  entirely,  and  must  do  so,  till 
the  ministry  are  removed  ;  whenever  that  happens,  the  com- 
pany may  be  assured  that  I  will  resume  the  business,  with- 
out any  farther  expense  to  them.  Our  brother  William  forgot 
to  bring  over  a  minute  of  the  company's  resolution,  appoint- 
ing me  agent ;  so  that  had  my  credentials  been  required, 
nothing  could  have  been  done.  Happily  they  were  not ;  but 
to  provide  against  it  for  the  future,  I  could  wish  you  and  Mr. 
Parker  would  send  me  such  credentials  as  you  may  think 
proper.  Please  to  remember  me  to  that  gentleman,  and  tell 
him  I  hope  every  patriotic  scheme  succeeds,  and  that  we  shall 
see  him  in  the  next  list  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  in  J.  R — ph's 
place.  I  wish  things  were  reversed,  and  this  tool  of  power 
were  his  deputy.  Your  governor  is  becoming  very  popular, 
as  we  are  told  here,  and  I  have  the  worst  proof  of  it  in  the 
increased  orders  for  fineries  from  the  ladies,  at  this  time  of 
general  distress  in  their  families.  Either  our  countrywomen 


APPENDIX.  259 

are  misrepresented  by  the  merchants'  wives,  or  they  are 
growing  deplorably  extravagant.  If  his  excellency  intro- 
duces such  a  spirit,  I  am  sure  his  popularity  will  be  ill 
founded.  Wilkes's  suit  with  Lord  Halifax  is  at  length  deter- 
mined, with  £4000  damages,  which  it  was  provided  in  court 
the  treasury  was  to  pay.  Inadequate  as  these  would,  in  any 
case,  have  been,  the  manner  in  which  they  are  to  be  paid, 
prevents  them  from  being  exemplary  ;  since  no  minister  will 
be  deterred  from  repeating  tbis  injury  by  a  fine  which  he  is 
not  to  pay.  Our  houses,  liberties,  and  most  interesting  se- 
crets, are  thus  at  the  mercy  of  any  minister  who  will  pay  this 
sum  out  of  the  treasury,  which,  with  the  present  furniture  of 
St.  Stephen's  chapel,  he  might  do  to-morrow  without  danger 
of  impeachment.  Yet  there  are  many  men  so  wicked  or  so 
weak,  as  to  deny  that  the  constitution  is  in  danger.  There 
are  men  who  will  never  believe  their  houses  are  near  the 
flames,  till  they  are  on  fire ;  so  long  as  they  walk  free,  they 
care  not  who  is  illegally  imprisoned.  The  Parliament  will 
probably  meet  about  the  middle  of  January ;  it  will  be  an 
important  session,  hut  I  believe  attended  with  no  farther 
good,  than  convincing  the  people  their  complaints  are  just, 
and  their  desire  of  a  dissolution  perfectly  proper.  I  am  ex- 
tremely well  with  Lord  S e,  the  lord  mayor,  the  sheriffs, 

Mr.  Wilkes,  Home,  Macauley,  Belles,  &c.  :  the  two  first 
and  the  last  are  those  only  of  whose  principles  I  have  a  good 
opinion  ;  but  I  am  so  sensible  of  my  own  deficiency  in  judg- 
ment, that,  while  I  act  in  the  integrity  of  my  heart,  I  do  not 
suffer  my  suspicions  to  influence  my  actions.     I  dine  fre- 
quently in  the  King's  Bench,  where  I  meet  the  declared  pa- 
triots ;  of  whom  I  shall  be  satisfied,  if  we  find  one  Sidney  in 
twelve  elect.   The  city  of  London  is,  however,  in  our  posses- 
sion, and  will  support  the  character  it  has  always  maintain- 
ed, of  standing  foremost  and  firm  in  opposition  to  arbitrary 
power.     It  is  a  chance  whether  you  ever  meet  with  a  series 
of  letters  signed  Junius  Americanus,  in  which  the  enemies  of 
America  are  chiefly  attacked ;  though,  to  make  what  was 
written  in  defence  of  the  colonies  acceptable,  it  was  necessary 
to  give  now  and  then  a  stroke  to  the  characters  obnoxious 
here.    It  is  desirable  to  make  a  signature  popular,  when  that 
is  effected,  I  shall  be  able  to  write  for  America  under  it  with 
success,  which  it  is  otherwise  extremely  difficult  to  accom- 
plish.    Send  copies  of  Parker's  edition   of  the  Farmer's 
Letters  to  Lord  Shelburne,  Mrs.  Macauley,  and  Colonel 
Barre.    Farewell. 

ARTHUR  LEE. 


2(j()  APPENDIX. 

A  very  ill  timed  fever,  my  dear  sir,  conRning  me  to  my 
bed  and  room  for  some  days  past,  has  for  the  present  marred 
my  Mississippi   and  political  operations.     Of  the  former, 
therefore,  I  can  say  nothing  more,  than  what  the  enclosed, 
written  a  week  since,  contains ;  of  politics  little  certain  can 
be  said,  for  no  one  yet  knows,  what  the  Parliament,  which 
meets  to-morrow,  will  determine.     The  ministry  are  entirely 
Bcdfordiaii,  neither  much  in  confidence  of  the  landed  or  mer- 
cantile part  of  the  nation,  but  they  are  of  Lord  Bute's  com- 
plexion,  and  have  therefore  the  royal  ear  and  protection. 
Grafton  is  the  premier,  profligate,  arbitrary  and  contemptible; 
Wey  mouth,  abandoned  to  gaining  arid  drinking,  totally  in- 
volved, but  extremely  clever ;  North,  Grower,  and  Bristol, 
nothing ;  Hillsborough  or  Pownall,  arbitrary,  opinionated, 
subtle,  and  severe  :  of  these  the  present  council  are  formed, 
without  one  speaker  or  advocate  in  the  House  of  Commons- 
All  parties  will,  it  is  probable,  be  opposed  to  them,  but  virtue 
and  real  patriotism  are  so  little  the  objects  of  pursuit  to  any 
party,  that  it  is  rather  a  scuffle  who  shall  enjoy  the  power 
and  wealth  of  office,  than  who  shall  administer  peace  and 
welfare  to  the  nation.     This   being  the  case,  the  sovereign 
will  always  turn  the  scale,  since  such  ministers  can  never  ac- 
quire the  confidence  of  the  nation,  so  as  to  be  independent  of 
court  influence  ;   this  makes  me  apprehend  that  the  present 
ministry,  as  being  certainly  that  of  the  favourite,  though  he 
be  now  abroad,  will  stand,  and  they  are,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  enemies  to  America.     They  delude  us  here  with 
talking  of  conciliating  measures,  but  it  is  only  to  try  once  more 
the  effect  of  art  and  management,  in  disuniting  the  colonies, 
while  it  is  evident  they  are  collecting  a  great  force  at  Boston, 
to  crush,  as  they  fondly  flatter  themselves,  the  head  of  oppo- 
sition' at  one  blow ;  from  the  perseverence  of  your  colony 
much  is  feared,  and  greatly  is  it  expected,  that  the  address, 
powers,  and  beguiling  splendor  of  his  excellency,  will  detach 
it  from  the  cause  of  liberty,  obtain  a  vote  subversive  of  your 
former  resolves,  and  acknowledging  your  promptitude  to 
bend  the  servile  knee,  and  fawning  take  the  splendid  robbers* 
boon.     Severe  will  be  the  trial,  but  more  exemplary,  there- 
fore, the  virtue  that  triumphs  over  it ;   alas  !   1  fear  it  will 
not  be  found,  where  meanness  and  servility  are  already  to 
prevalent  among  the  little  great  people  of  your  colony  :  yet 
on  the  issue  of  this  essay  must  1  hereafter  glory  in  being  a 
Virginian,  or  hide  my  head  when  it  is  mentioned.     Subtlety 
and  arbitrariness  being  the  characteristics  of  the  present 
ministry,  great  prudence,  caution  and  management,  will  be 
requisite  to  frustrate  their  measures,  or  elude  their  revenge. 


APPENDIX.  OQl 

You  may  be  assured,  if  they  stand  this  session,  and  their 
present  policy  succeeds  not  in  ximerica,  the  first  step  to  en- 
forcement, will  be  the  seizing  and  executing  the  patriotic 
leaders ;  in  your  conduct  therefore  let  me  recommend  an  at- 
tention to  the  conduct  of  the  first  prince  of  Orange,  which 
saved  him  from  an  ignominious  death,  and  effectually  vin- 
dicated the  liberties  of  his  country,  while  the  incaution  of  his 
associates  made  them  victims  to  the  bloody  and  revengeful 
purposes  of  the  tyrant  they  opposed.  Our  first  duty  is  to 
our  country  unquestionably,  and  her  dearest  right  is  liberty  ; 
but  if  this  be  not  the  sense  of  the  people,  if  there  is  no  pros- 
pect of  opposing  tyrannous  measures  with  success,  ',twere 
better  wait  the  favourable  moment,  since  once  engaged,  suc- 
cess, eternal  enmity,  or  death,  must  be  the  issue.  Cato. 
Brutus,  and  Cassius,  did  not  precipitately  undertake  a  hope- 
less cause,  but  they  made  a  glorious  and  dreadful  struggle, 
that  failing,  death  was  the  only  worthy  end  of  such  a  begin- 
ning. 0  how  my  soul  swells  with  the  great  idea,  methinks 
I  could  smile  in  the  very  pangs  of  death,  and  pity  the  insulting 
tyrant.  Should  such  a  trial  come,  and  my  weak  flesh  shrink 
from  the  nobler  purposes  of  my  soul,  to  what  contempt  it  would 
reduce  me.  Inured  to  war  and  death,  habit  had  steeled  their 
bodies,  and  made  them  equal  to  the  achievement  of  every  daring- 
resolution  ;  happy  had  I  been  bred  a  soldier,  or  these  trying 
times  had  not  arrived  in  my  day.  These  are  reflections 
which  I  cannot  avoid,  though  they  leave  stings  behind  them  ; 
the  very  doubt  of  bearing  unmoved  the  utmost  efforts  of  af- 
flicting power,  and  telling  the  tyrant  or  his  minion  to  the 
last,  I  scorned  him,  is  to  me  grievous. 

I  have  not  sent  you  the  Museum  Rusticuin,  because  it  is 
certainly  too  dear  for  its  usefulness  ;  and  another  publication 
is  daily  expected,  which  perhaps  may  be  preferable.  I  reserve 
Tissot,  till  I  have  leisure  to  read  him,  and  make  some  anno- 
tations for  you.  There  is  a  book,  some  time  since  published, 
called  a  Handmaid  to  the  Arts,  which  should  be  useful  to 
you);  if  I  think  so  upon  examining,  it  shall  be  sent.  The 
Court  Register  will  be  published  the  28th  of  this  month, 
therefore  I  hardly  think  it  worth  while  sending  the  old  one 
now.  I  know  of  nothing  else  worth  your  attention. 

October  9th.  The  great  debate  is  passed,  administration 
has  carried  her  point,  forcing  by  the  sword,  over  the 
colonies,  those  laws  which  reason  and  justice  cannot  sup- 
port or  establish.  Dreadful  idea,  that  even  suggested  in  a 
free  house,  ought  to  have  excited  indignation  and  abhorrence. 
To  the  king's  speech,  containing  an  account  of  America,  be- 
ing in  an  alienated  state  of  allegiance  and  submission  to  law; 


262  APPENDIX. 

and  one  part,  namely  Boston,  in  the  verge  ot  rebellion 
through  the  agency  of  some  seditious  persons.  An  address 
was  moved  for  by  Lord  Henly,  Lord  Northington's  son,  ap- 
proving the  steps  which  had  been  taken  by  the  King  in  Ame- 
rica, and  promising  him  support.  This  was  seconded  by 
Mr.  Stanley,  who  said  the  late  acts  were  intended  to  bring 
this  contest  of  right  to  an  issue  ;  that  the  troops  had  been 
drawn  together  in  America,  to  enforce  it  with  more  facility, 
and  had  now  commenced  the  operation  in  Boston.  Mr. 
Dowdswall,  late  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  moved  for  an 
amendment,  using  milder  terms  towards  the  Americans,  and 
not  expressing  any  approbation  of  ministerial  measures. 
Lord  Clare,  and  Lord  North,  supported  the  former,  with 
heavy,  if  not  unwarrantable  charges,  against  the  people  of 
Boston,  and  high  ideas  of  absolute  power.  The  amendment 
was  then  supported  by  Sir  G.  Seville,  but  not  on  American 
principles.  Mr.  Burke  next  entered  more  largely,  and  with 
more  masterly  eloquence  into  the  transactions  of  Governor 
Bernard  and  the  administration.  He  showed,  the  present 
disturbances  arose  from  a  concerted  plan,  and  intentional  in- 
juries offered  the  people  of  Boston  ;  that  the  right  of  taxing, 
and  the  laws  founded  on  it,  were  repugnant  to  the  feelings  of 
America,  which  never  could  be  overcome ;  he  insisted,  that 
the  requiring  the  Assembly  of  Boston,  to  rescind  a  vote,  un- 
der penalty,  was  absolutely  illegal  and  unconstitutional ;  that 
sending  soldiers  there  and  demanding  provision  for  them, 
was  directly  repugnant  to  the  act  of  Parliament,  which  di- 
rects that  provision  to  be  made  by  the  Assembly.  Mr.  Gren- 
ville  then  advised  unanimously  supporting  the  measures  of 
administration  in  subduing  the  colonies  ;  he  praised  his  S.  A. 
talked  much  about  himself,  and  condemned  the  minister's 
mandate  for  rescinding,  as  totally  illegal.  Colonel  Barre 
next  spoke  with  great  judgment,  upon  the  question  in  favour 
of  the  amendment ;  he  questioned  the  right,  disapproved  the 
measures,  and  demonstrated  that  they  were  urging  a  quarrel 
with  their  colonies,  from  an  ill  grounded  jealousy,  when  the 
state  of  Europe  made  harmony  absolutely  requisite  to  our 
preservation.  Mr.  Wedderburn  then  pointed  out  with  great 
justice,  that  government,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  was  exe- 
cuted by  files  of  musketeers  ;  that  laws  were  obeyed  not  from 
a  respect  and  confidence  in  the  people  for  the  legislature  and 
government,  but  from  terror ;  a  dreadful  state  existed  by 
•some  unhappy  defect  in  the  executive  part,  which  threatened 
our  ruin ;  he  declared  against  the  legality  of  the  ministerial 
mandate  at  Boston.  Many  others  spoke  on  both  sides,  but 
the  ministry  carried  it  without  a  division. 


APPENPIX. 

All  this  I  consider  as  done  in  heat,  and  hope  better  infor- 
mation and  more  dispassionate  deliberation,  will  produce  the 
conciliating  measures  of  recalling  Bernard,  and  repealing 
the  duty  acts ;  should  this  not  be  done,  I  apprehend  that  the 
present  establishment  of  the  military  in  America,  will  pre- 
vent any  armed  opposition  to  the  measures  of  administration ; 
but  I  conceive  the  Americans  will  endeavour  by  those  means, 
of  not  consuming  British  manufactures,  which  are  absolutely 
in  their  power,  to  bring  this  ungrateful  country  to  a  better 
sense  of  their  usefulness  to  her,  and  how  vain  the  attempt  is 
to  rule  by  force,  a  free  people. 

Mr  Burke  asserted,  that  Chatham  and  Camden,  had  both 
acted  towards  America  inconsistently  with  those  principles ; 
which,  coming  from  such  great  authorities,  had  confirmed 
the  colonists  in  their  opinion,  the  Parliament  having  no  right 
to  tax  them. 

Grod  knows  whether  this  will  be  suffered  to  reach  you ;  for 
the  administration  are  determined  to  sacrifice  the  most  active 
in  the  American  cause,  and  may  probably  stop  letters. 

Yours,  &c. 

ARTHUR  LEE. 

The  author  has  here  added  some  letters  written  to  Arthur 
Lee,  by  some  of  his  English  friends,  who  were  distinguished 
men  of  their  day. 

The  following  letter  is  from  Lord  Cardross,  afterwards 
Lord  Buchan,  a  well  known  friend  of  America,  who  made 
General  Washington,  a  present  of  a  snuff-box,  from  the  wood 
of  the  tree,  which  sheltered  Wallace,  the  Scotch  hero. 

WALCOT,  near  Bath,  Oct.  31,  1769. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  should  be  very  happy  to  be  entrusted 
with  the  welfare  of  Virginia,  and  I  am  sure,  I  should  pass 
my  time  most  agreeably  among  you  ;  but  I  am  afraid  I  love 
you  all  too  well,  to  have  that  charge  committed  to  me  at 
present,  after  what  has  passed ;  not  that  I  think  any  plan  is 
likely  to  be  adopted,  of  a  disagreeable  tendency,  but  that  my 
avowed  sentiments,  with  respect  to  my  countrymen  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  might  be  thought  too  strongly  fa- 
vourable to  certain  demands  which  may  be  made.  There 
remains  another  obstacle,  and  that  is,  as  my  father  is,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  in  a  very  precarious  state  of  health ;  it  would 
aeem  odd  for  an  Earl,  according  to  the  ideas  of  this  country, 
to  be  deputy  to  Sir  Jeffery  Amherst. 


2(54  APPENDIX, 

I  told  you,  that  I  had  my  eye  on  Turin,  but  I  had  much 
rather  he  with  you,  I  assure  you ;  and  if  any  opening  should 
happen,  hy  the  death  or  resignation  of  Fauquier,  I  don't 
know  hut  I  may  make  an  essay,  to  your  satisfaction.  In  the 
mean  time,  I  think  myself  very  happy  in  having  one  there  so 
partial  to  me,  as  you  are,  and  who  will  never  mention  my 
name,  without  saying,  that  I  am  a  friend  to  liherty  and  to  the 
friendless. 

I  ever  am,  dear  Sir, 
With  great  esteem, 

Your  most  obliged  and  oht.  servant, 

CARDROSS. 

P.  S.  Governor  Dinwiddie  asks  after  you,  with  regard; 
he  is  not  well  at  present. 

Pray  remember  the  Museum  at  Edinburgh,  which  I  espouse 
at  present,  and  send  me  some  of  your  country  productions. 


The  following  letter  is  from  John  Wilkes ;  it  is  here  insert- 
ed, as  relating  to  the  politics  of  the  times,  and  as  curious, 
because  its  author  connected  his  name,  with  the  political  his- 
tory of  England.  Of  Wilkes,  Chatham  declaimed,  and 
Junius  wrote.  The  "little  incident"  of  which  Mr.  Wilkes 
speaks,  was  the  loss  of  the  papers  of  Arthur  Lee,  then  ac- 
credited American  commissioner  at  the  court  of  Berlin. 
Shortly  after  Mr.  Lee's  arrival  at  Berlin,  his  trunk  was 
broken  open,  and  his  papers  taken  out ;  upon  Mr.  Lee's  com- 
plaining to  the  Prussian  ministry,  the  papers  were  returned 
to  Mr.  Lee,  by  an  unknown  person.  It  was  well  ascertained 
afterwards,  that  his  papers  had  been  taken  away,  by  the  pro- 
curing of  Mr.  Liston,  the  English  minister  at  Berlin.  Upon 
this  occasion  Frederick  the  Great  himself,  wrote  a  note  to 
Mr.  Lee,  complimenting  his  country  and  its  representative. 
Wilkes'  and  Junius'  dislike  to  the  Scottish  politicians,  is  well 
known. 

PRINCE'S  COURT,  November  9th,  1777. 

I  was  made  extremely  happy,  my  Dear  Sir,  by  the  most 
friendly  letter,  which  you  honoured  me  with,  by  Monsieur  Mon- 
tandoine ;  and  I  am  farther  to  thank  you  for  giving  me  the  op- 
portunity of  knowing  so  sensible  and  ingenious  a  gentleman  ; 
1  eagerly  embraced  every  occasion  of  being  with  him,  and  his 
amiable  lady,  but  the  ill  state  of  her  health,  obliges  her  to 
pass  a  considerable  part  of  her  stay,  in  this  Island,  at  Bath, 
which  Miss  Wilkes  and  I  greatly  regretted. 


APPENDIX.  265 

The  little  adventure  at  Berlin,  was  a  low  piece  of  Scottish 
knavery,  exactly  calculated  for  the  meanness  of  fraud,  in  those 
pedlars  of  politics,  who,  boasting  all  the  while  of  economy, 
have  lost  a  continent. 

This  poor  country  is  fallen  into  a  fatal  lethargy,  from 
which  all  efforts  to  rouse  her  seem  ineffectual.  The  single 
loss  of  Minorca,  drove  the  people  of  England  almost  to  mad- 
ness ;  now  thirteen  provinces  dismembered  from  the  British 
empire  scarcely  excite  a  murmur,  except  among  a  very  few, 
who  dare  to  love  their  country  even  at  this  disgraceful 
period.  The  parliamentary  campaign  will  soon  open,  hut 
nothing  is  to  be  expected.  Corruption  has  spread  like  a  low 
born  mist,  a  Scottish  mist,  and  pervades  every  thing.  Poor 
opposition,  too,  wants  a  head,  and  is  feeble  and  sickly  in  all 
its  members. 

I  am  very  sensible  of  your  kindness  to  young  Smith  of 
Berlin,  and  was  made  very  happy  by  your  favourable  ac- 
count of  him.  I  hope,  I  am  not  to  blush  for  him  in  future 
life,  but  trust  he  will  justify  your  obliging  partiality  to  him. 

In  all  the  changes  or  chances  of  this  political  warfare,  re- 
member, my  dear  sir,  you  have  here  a  warm  friend,  who 
would  rejoice  in  every  opportunity  of  convincing  you  of  his 
attachment,  and  be  highly  gratified  by  your  correspondence. 

Vale,  et  me  am  a. 

P.  S.  Miss  Wilkes  desires  to  add  her  compliments. 


The  following  letter  was  from  Colonel  Barre,  whose  elo- 
quent defence  of  the  colonies  is  so  well  known  to  every  reader. 

LONDON,  January  31st,  1771. 

SIR — I  should  long  since  have  acknowledged  the  receipt  of 
your  very  obliging  letter  of  last  June,  if  I  had  been  in  Eng- 
land ;  but  I  was,  at  the  time  of  its  arrival,  in  a  remote  part 
of  Europe,  and  now  seize  this  as  the  first  opportunity  which 
presents  itself  since  my  return,  to  pay  my  respects  to  you. 

I  see  you  lament,  with  all  the  feelings  of  true  patriotism, 
that  the  firmness  of  America,  has  at  last  given  way  to  the 
combined  arts  of  ministerial  and  mercantile  wickedness.  It 
was  very  difficult  to  resist  the  former,  and,  upon  my  word,  I 
think  it  fair  to  call  the  latter,  rather  mercantile  weakness, 
than  wickedness.  Some  of  the  most  considerable  men  through- 
out your  continent  are  employed  in  active  commerce.  They 
stood  long  in  defence  of  the  rights  of  their  fellow  subjects, 
but  the  ministers  have  had  sagacity  enough  to  see,  that  (be- 

VOL.  i — 1 1 


266  APPENDIX. 

sides  the  jealousy  of  each  other,)  the  expense  of  the  contest, 
lay  too  heavy  upon  that  body  of  men,  to  continue  much  longer. 
However,  it  must  be  confessed  upon  the  whole,  that  America 
has  shown,  in  the  late  struggle,  a  strong  love  of  liberty,  a 
spirited  resentment,  and  most  uncommon  abilities. 

I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  your  two  presents. 
Their  intrinsic  worth  is  rare,  and  the  manner  of  sending  them, 
very  flattering.  It  must  give  me  great  pleasure  to  find,  that 
my  poor  services  are  still  remembered  in  America,  and  that 
I  hold  a  place,  in  the  esteem  of  so  respectable  a  man,  as  Mr. 
Lee. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  great  regard  and  considera- 
tion, Sir, 

Your  most  obedient,  and  most  humble  servant, 

ISAAC  BARRE. 


The  following  letter  is  from  William  Wyndham,  who  was 
a  distinguished  politician  and  speaker  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  did  not  imagine,  when  we  last  met  in 
London,  that  it  would  so  soon  happen  to  me,  to  address  a 
letter  to  you,  as  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  I  most  heartily  wish  you  joy,  of  a  situa- 
tion so  honourable  and  distinguished.  The  sentiments  which 
I  have  ever  entertained  on  American  matters,  at  a  time  when 
affairs  had  the  least  promising  aspect,  will  sufficiently  wit- 
ness, the  sincerity  of  this  congratulation.  I  would  wish  to 
say  a  great  deal  of  what  is  uppermost  in  my  mind,  on  the 
present  most  extraordinary  juncture,  but  the  hurry  in  which 
I  am  obliged  to  write,  will  confine  me  to  the  immediate  sub- 
ject of  this  letter.  I  have  taken  the  opportunity  of  my  be- 
ing in  France  for  a  few  days,  and  meeting  with  Captain  John- 
son, to  send  this  letter  and  one  enclosed  to  you,  with  the  hope, 
that  you  will  take  some  safe  opportunity  of  sending  the  en- 
closed, to  my  friend*  in  Carolina.  I  have  ventured  to  pro- 
pose, in  my  letter  to  him,  that  he  should  direct  a  letter  to  me, 
to  your  care.  I  am  sensible  I  am  taking  a  liberty,  but  I  am 
driven  to  it  by  my  desire  to  hear  from  him,  and  my  igno- 
rance of  any  other  means  by  which  I  might  hope  a  letter 
would  come  safe. 

In  the  summer,  I  think,  I  shall  be  tempted  to  make  a  short 
visit  to  Paris.     It  would  give  me  particular  pleasure  to  find 

*  The  name  could  not  be  made  out. 


APPENDIX.  £67 

you  there.  What  a  spectacle  have  our  worthy  court  ex- 
hibited to  the  indignation  and  scorn  of  Europe.  When  I 
think  of  the  acquiescence  of  the  nation,  under  such  men  and 
manners,!  really  begin  almost  "  desperare  de  republica,"  and 
to  hold  less  firmly  to  an  opinion,  which  I  have  kept  fast  to 
hitherto,  that  the  bulk  of  the  people  of  England,  had  still  a  fund 
of  those  qualities,  which,  till  lately,  rendered  them  deserv- 
edly the  admiration  of  all  who  knew  them.  I  should  be  very 
happy  to  have  now  some  more  of  such  conversations  as  we 
used  to  have  on  these  matters  formerly.  I  am  at  a  loss  how 
to  enclose  this  letter,  in  a  way  to  make  myself  known,  with- 
out  signing  my  name,  which  might  perhaps  bo  inconvenient ; 
after  the  description,  which  Captain  Johnson  may  give,  it  may 
probably  be  sufficient  to  add,  that  we  met  at  poor  Alleyne's,* 
the  last  time  we  dined  there,  Jonesf  was  one  of  the  party. 
Believe  me,  dear  sir,  with  great  truth, 

Your  most  obedient  and  faitful  servant, 

W.  W, 

DUNKIRK,  March  12,  1778, 
I  live  now  in  Pall-Mail. 

*  Alley ne  was  a  very  brilliant  advocate,  and  a  lawyer  of  great  promise , 
He  was  the  friend  and  companion  of  Dunning,  &c     He  died  early  in  life. 
f  Sir  William  Jones. 


APPENDIX, 


NUMBER  II. 

To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal 
in  Parliament  assembled. 

The  humble  petition  of  several  natives  of  America,  showetli, 
That  your  petitioners  being  natives  of  his  majesty's  do- 
minions in  America,  are  deeply  interested  in  every  proceed- 
ing of  this  right  honourable  house,  which  touches  the  life, 
liberty,  or  property,  of  any  person,  or  persons,  in  the  said 
dominions.  That  your  petitioners  conceive  themselves  and 
their  fellow  subjects,  to  be  entitled  to  the  rights  of  natural 
justice,  and  to  the  common  law  of  England,  as  their  unalien- 
able  birth  right.  That  they  apprehend  it  to  be  an  invariable 
rule  of  natural  justice,  that  no  man  shall  be  condemned  un- 
heard;  and  that,  according  to  law,  no  person,  or  persons, 
can  be  judged  without  being  called  upon  to  answer,  and 
being  permitted  to  hear  the  evidence  against  them,  and  to 
make  their  defence.  That  it  is,  therefore,  with  the  deepest 
concern,  they  understand,  that  there  is  now  before  this  right 
honourable  House,  a  bill  of  pains  and  penalties  to  be  inflict- 
ed on  the  town  of  Boston,  for  a  trespass  committed  by  some 
persons  unknown,  upon  the  property  of  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, without  the  said  town  having  been  apprised  of  any 
accusation  being  brought  against  them,  or  permitted  to  hear 
the  evidence,  if  there  be  any,  or  to  make  their  defence.  That 
the  bill  takes  away  immediately  from  the  inhabitants  of  the 
town,  the  use  of  property  to  the  amount  of  several  hundred 
thousand  pounds,  vested  in  quays,  wharves,  stores,  &c.  That 
it  will  restrain  many  thousands  of  hi&  majesty's  subjects  from 
subsisting  themselves  and  their  families,  by  their  usual  em- 
ployments. That  it  will  punish  the  innocent  for  the  guilty, 
and  even  should  all  the  reparation  required  by  the  bill  be 
made,  the  restoration  of  that  property,  or  any  part  of  it,  is 
suffered  to  depend  solely  upon  the  will  of  the  crown. 

Your  petitioners  conceive  such  proceedings  to  be  directly 
repugnant  to  every  principle  of  law  and  justice,  and  that, 
under  such  a  precedent,  no  man,  or  body  of  men,  could  enjoy 
a  moment's  security ;  for,  if  judgment  be  immediately  to  fol- 


APPENpIX.  269 

low  an  accusation,  the  accused,  unacquainted  with  the  charge, 
and  debarred  from  defending  themselves,  every  fence  against 
false  accusations  will  be  pulled  down ;  justice  will  no  longer 
be  a  shield,  nor  innocence  an  exemption  from  punishment. 
Your  petitioners  beg  leave  to  represent,  that  the  law  in  Ame- 
rica ministers  redress  for  any  injury  sustained  there,  and 
they  can  most  truly  affirm,  that  it  is  administered  in  that 
country  with  as  much  impartiality  as  in  any  other  part  of  his 
majesty's  dominions.     In  proof  of  this,  they  appeal  to  an 
instance  of  great  notoriety,  in  which,  under  every  circum- 
stance that  could  exasperate  the  people,    and  disturb  the 
course  of  justice,  Captain  Preston  and  his  soldiers  had  a  fair 
trial,  and  a  favourable  verdict.     The  due  course  of  law  thus 
manifestly  holding  out  redress,  they  cannot  but  consider  the 
interposition  of  Parliamentary  power  to  be  as  unnecessary  as 
it  is  arbitrary  and  unjust.     Your  petitioners  conceive  that 
the  right  honourable  House,  being  the  supreme  judicature  of 
this  nation,  are  too  well  acquainted  with  the  inviolable  rules 
of  justice  to  require  any  further  objections  to  the  bill  against 
the  town  of  Boston,  now  under  consideration.     They,  there- 
fore, trust  and  pray  that  the  right  honourable  house  will  not 
pass  a  bill  which  is  to  condemn  and  punish  persons  unheard, 
and,  therefore,  deprived  of  that  privilege  which  every  princi- 
ple of  justice,  and  every  practice  of  law,  allows  to  the  mean- 
est individual ;  the  privilege  of  hearing  and  controverting 
the  evidence  against  him,  and  maintaining  his  innocence. 
And  your  commissioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray. 


THATCHED  HOUSE  TAVERN,  LONDON,  March  26th,  1774. 

The  above  is  a  literal  copy  of  a  petition  this  day  drawn  up 
and  signed,  here,  by  the  sheriffs  of  London,  Doctor  Frank- 
lin, R.  Izard,  William  Middleton,  Esquires,  Colonel  Law- 
rence, and  many  other  of  the  first  gentlemen  of  South  Caro- 
lina. The  honourable  John  Ellis,  one  of  the  council  of 
Jamaica,  and  worth  at  least  twenty  thousand  pounds  per 
annum ;  Arthur  Lee,  Esq.  and  many  other  gentlemen  of  the 
several  colonies  of  North  Carolina,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania, 
New  York,  and  the  several  New  England  governments,  and 
is  to  be  presented,  on  Monday  next,  the  23th  instant,  to  the 
House  of  Lords. 

(Witness) 

WILLIAM  LEE 


270  APPENDIX 


NUMBER  III. 


The  following  Letter  was  addressed  to  the  JLutlwr  by  the 
honourable  John  Jay. 

BEDFORD,  West  Chester  County,  New  York, 
12th  February,  1823. 

SIR — I  received,  by  the  last  mail,  your  friendly  letter  of 
the  30th  ultimo,  the  principal  object  of  which,  you  observe, 
is  to  obtain  from  me,  if  I  recollect  minutely  on  the  subject,  a 
correct  account  of  the  part  which  your  grandfather  acted  in 
the  three  leading  committees  appointed  by  the  Congress  of 
1774  ;  these  were  committees  to  prepare  an  address  to  the 
king  of  England — to  the  people  of  Great  Britain — and  to 
the  Colonies.  The  committee  for  the  first  address,  consisted 
of  Messrs.  Lee,  J.  Adams,  Johnson,  Henry,  and  Rutledge ; 
to  this  committee,  Mr.  Dickenson  was  afterwards  added. 
You  further  observe,  that  it  had  been  generally  understood 
that  Mr.  Lee  was  the  writer  of  that  address ;  but  that  it  has 
since  been  ascribed  to  Mr.  Dickenson.  So  many  years  have 
elapsed  since  the  Congress  of  1 774,  that  my  recollection,  as 
to  many  of  the  occasional  and  incidental  circumstances, 
which  occurred  in  the  course  of  their  proceedings,  is  not 
distinct. 

It  appears,  from  the  journals  of  that  Congress,  that  the 
committee  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  king,  reported  a 
draught  of  such  an  address,  on  the  21st  October;  that,  after 
some  debate  it  was  recommitted,  and  that  Mr.  J.  Dickenson 
was,  on  that  day,  added  to  the  committee.  So  soon  after- 
wards as  the  24th  October,  they  again  reported  ;  and  on  the 
next  day,  viz.  the  25th  October,  the  address  they  had  report- 
ed, was  debated,  and,  after  some  amendments,  approved.  By 
which  of  the  members  of  the  committee  it  was  written,  I  do 
not  remember  to  have  been  informed.  To  me,  it  appears 
probable  that  the  same  draught  which  had  been  recommitted, 
was,  with  the  co-operation  of  Mr.  Dickenson,  amended,  and 
again  reported.  That  Mr.  Dickenson,  between  the  21st 
October,  when  he  was  added  to  the  committee,  and  the  24th 


APPENDIX 

October,  when  they,  for  the  last  time  reported,  should  have 
proposed  to  the  committee  to  lay  aside  their  draught,  and 
that  he,  with  their  approbation,  should  have  undertaken,  and 
to  their  satisfaction,  have  finished,  an  entire  new  address,  is, 
in  my  opinion,  improbable,  especially  considering  his  sense 
of  propriety,  and  the  characters  and  abilities  of  the  gentle- 
men of  that  committee. 

On  the  llth  October,  1774,  the  Congress  "Resolved, 
unanimously,  That  a  memorial  be  prepared  to  the  people  of 
British  America,  stating  to  them  the  necessity  of  a  firm, 
united,  and  invariable  observation  of  the  measures  recom- 
mended by  the  Congress,  as  they  tender  the  invaluable  rights 
and  liberties  derived  to  them  from  the  laws  and  constitution 
of  their  country.  Also,  "That  an  address  be  prepared  to 
the  people  of  Great  Britain:9  "  Ordered,  That  Mr.  Lee, 
Mr.  Livingston,  and  Mr.  Jay,  be  a  committee  to  prepare  a 
draught  of  the  memorial  and  address." 

It  was  agreed,  in  the  committee,  that  Mr.  Lee  should  pre- 
pare a  draught  of  the  proposed  memorial,  which  was  the 
first,  both  in  order  and  importance ;  and  that  I  should  pre- 
pare a  draught  of  the  proposed  address  to  the  people  of  Great 
Britain,  both  of  which  were  done  accordingly.     On  the  18th 
October,  the  address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain  was  re- 
ported to  Congress.     On  the  19th  October,  it  was  debated  by 
paragraphs,  and  sundry  amendments  made ;  and  was  recom- 
mitted, in  order  that  the  amendments  might  be  taken  in.  On 
the  21st  October,   it  was  returned  to  Congress,   and   the 
amendments  directed,  being  made,  the  same  was  appointed. 
On  the  19th  October,  the  committee  reported  a  draught  of  a 
memorial  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  British  colonies.     On  the 
21st  October,  the  Congress  resumed  the  consideration  of  the 
memorial,  and  the  same,  being  debated  by  paragraphs  and 
amended,  was  approved.     I  have  always  believed  that  this 
memorial  was  written  by  Mr.  Lee,  nor  have  any  reasons  to 
doubt  it,  come  to  my  knowledge.     On  the  same  day,  viz. 
21st  October,  the  Congress  "Resolved,  That  an  address  be 
prepared  to  the  people  of  Quebec,  and  letters  to  the  colonies 
of  St.  Johns,  &c."     «  Ordered,  That  Mr.  Gushing,  Mr.  Lee, 
and  Mr.  Dickenson,  be  a  committee  to  prepare  the  above 
address  and  letters. "    Hence  it  appears,  that  your  idea  of  my 
being  one  of  that  committee,  is  not  correct.     On  the  24th 
October,  the  address  to  the  people  of  Quebec,  being  brought 
in,  was  read,  and,  after  some  debate,  was  recommitted.     On 
the  26th  October,  the  committee  to  whom  the  address  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Quebec  was  recommitted,  reported  a  draught, 
which  was  read,  and,   being   debated  by  paragraphs  and 


212  APPENDIX. 

amended,  was  approved."  I  have  often  heard  it  said,  and 
not  heard  it  contradicted,  that  this  address  was  written  by 
Mr.  Dickenson.  On  the  25th  October,  the  Congress  "  Re- 
solved.  That  the  address  to  the  king,  he  enclosed  in  a  letter 
to  the  several  colony  agents,  &c.  and  "  Ordered.  That  Mr. 
Lee  and  Mr.  Jay  prepare  a  letter  to  the  agents"  On  the 
26th  October,  the  letter  to  the  agents  being  brought  in  by  the 
committee,  was  read  and  approved  ;  this  letter  was  written 
by  Mr.  Lee. 

The  committee  (mentioned  in  the  postscript  of  your  letter) 
appointed  to  state  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  &c.,  included  a 
number  of  gentlemen,  whose  information  and  talents,  enabled 
them  to  discuss  and  elucidate  those  topics  very  ably  ;  but,  I 
cannot  particularize  how  far  Mr.  Lee,  or  any  other  indivi- 
dual of  those  gentlemen,  contributed  to  the  accomplishment 
of  that  business.  The  uninterrupted  deputation  of  Mr.  Lee 
to  Congress,  by  his  native  and  important  state,  during  many 
years  of  danger  and  difficulty,  and  his  continued  participation 
in  the  transaction  of  affairs  of  such  moment,  afford  inferences 
on  which  much  might  be  said.  Although  a  recent  increase 
of  sickness,  renders  occupation  irksome  to  me,  yet  as  a  further 
increase  of  it  might  suspend,  and  perhaps  prevent  my  attend- 
ing to  your  inquiries,  I  think  it  better  to  answer  your  letter 
thus  concisely,  than  to  postpone  writing.  Those  inquiries 
need  no  apology.  The  friendly  sentiments  expressed  in  your 
letter,  merit,  and  have  my  acknowledgments.  With  the 
best  wishes  for  your  success  and  welfare,  I  am,  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  JAY. 

HENIIY  LEE,  Esq. 


APPENDIX 


NUMBER  IV. 

To  the,  King's  most  excellent  Majesty. 

The  humble  address  arid  petition  of  the  lord  mayor,  alder- 
men, and  commons,  in  common  council  assembled. 

Most  gracious  sovereign,  your  majesty's  most  loyal  and 
dutiful  subjects,  the  lord  mayor,  aldermen,  and  commons,  of 
the  city  of  London,  in  common  council  assembled,  with  all 
humility,  beg  leave  to  lay  themselves  at  your  royal  feet, 
humbly  imploring  your  benign  attention  to  the  grievous  dis- 
tractions of  their  fellow  subjects  in  America. 

The  characteristic  of  the  people,  sire,  over  whom  you  reign, 
has  ever  been  equally  marked  for  an  unparalleled  loyalty 
to  their  sovereign,  whilst  the  principles  of  the  constitution 
have  been  the  rule  of  his  government,  as  for  a  firm  opposition, 
whenever  their  rights  have  been  invaded. 

Your  American  subjects,  royal  sir,  descended  from  the 
same  ancestors  with  ourselves,  appear  equally  jealous  of 
the  prerogatives  of  freemen,  without  which  they  cannot  deem 
themselves  happy. 

Their  cheerful  and  unasked  for  contributions,  as  well  as 
willing  services  to  the  mother  country,  while  they  remain 
free  from  the  clog  of  compulsory  laws,  will,  we  are  sure, 
plead  powerfully  with  the  humanity  of  your  disposition,  for 
readily  granting  them  every  reasonable  opportunity  of  giving 
as  freemen,  what  they  seem  resolutely  determined  to  refuse, 
under  the  injunction  of  laws,  made  independent  of  their  own 
consent.  The  abhorrence  we  entertain  of  civil  bloodshed 
and  confusion,  will,  we  trust,  sire,  if  not  wholly  exculpate  us 
in  your  royal  mind,  yet  plead  powerfully  in  our  favour,  for 
the  warmth  with  which  we  lament  those  measures,  the 
dsetructive  principles  of  which,  have  driven  our  American 
brethren  to  acts  of  desperation. 

Convinced  of  the  earnest  disposition  of  the  colonists  to 
remain  firm  in  all  duteous  obedience  to  the  constitutional 
authority  of  this  kingdom,  permit  us  most  gracious  sovereign 
to  beseech  you,  that  those  operations  of  force,  which  at  pre- 
sent distract  them  with  the  raost  dreadful  apprehensions, 
may  be  suspended  ;  and  that,  uncontrolled  by  a  restraint  in- 
compatible with  free  government,  they  may  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  tendering  such  terms  of  accommodation,  as  we  have 
YOI.  i, — M  m 


274  APPENDIX. 

no  doubt  will  approve  them  worthy  of  a  distinguished  rank 
among  the  firmest  friends  of  this  country. 

Your  petitioners  do  therefore  most  earnestly  heseech  your 
majesty  to  dismiss  immediately,  and  for  ever,  from  your 
councils,  those  ministers  and  advisers.  As  the  first  step  to- 
wards a  full  redress  of  those  grievances,  which  alarm  and 
afflict  your  whole  people. 

So  shall  peace  and  commerce  he  restored,  and  the  confi- 
dence and  affection  of  all  your  majesty's  subjects  be  the  soiid 
supporters  of  your  throne. 


APPENDIX. 


NUMBER  V. 


Copy  of  the  letter  written  by  Thomas  Jefferson  to  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  Esq.  enclosing  the  original  draft  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  as  first  reported.  The  passages 
omitted  by  Congress  are  printed  in  Italics,  and  the  substitu- 
tions are  given  at  the  bottom  of  each  page* 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  8th,  1776. 

DEAR  SIR — For  news,  I  refer  you  to  your  brother,  who 
writes  on  that  head.  I  enclose  you  a  copy  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  as  agreed  to  by  the  House,  and  also  as  ori- 
ginally framed  :  you  will  judge  whether  it  is  the  better  or 
worse  for  the  critics.  I  shall  return  to  Virginia  after  the  llth 
of  August.  I  wish  my  successor  may  be  certain  to  come  be- 
fore that  time  :  in  that  case,  I  shall  hope  to  see  you,  and  not 
Wythe,  in  convention,  that  the  business  of  government,  which 
is  of  everlasting  concern,  may  receive  your  aid.  Adieu,  and 
believe  me  to  be, 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


-A  Declaration  by  the  Representatives  of  the  UNITED  STATE* 
OF  AMERICA,  in  general  Congress  assembled. 

When,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary 
for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands  whicl*  have  con- 
nected them  with  another,  and  to  assume,  among  the  powers 
of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws 
of  nature  and  of  nature's  God,  entitle  them  ;  a  decent  respect 
to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires,  that  th<-y  should  declare 
the  causes  which  impel  them  to  the  separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident :  that  all  men  are 
created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with 
inherent  and  inalienable*  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness ;  that  to  secure  these 
rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed :  that  when- 

*  Certain  untenable  rights 


276  APPENDIX. 

ever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of  these 
ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it.  and 
to  institute  new  government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such 
principles,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to 
them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happi- 
ness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate,  that  governments,  long 
established,  should  not  be  changed  for  light  and  transient 
causes.     And,  accordingly,  all  experience  hath  shown,  that 
mankind  are  more  disposed  to  suffer,  while  evils  are  suffer- 
able,  than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to 
which  they  are  accustomed.  But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses 
and  usurpations,  begun  at  a  distinguished  period,  and  pur- 
suing invariably  the  same  object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce 
them  under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their 
duty,   to  throw  off  such  government,   and  to  provide  new 
guards  for  their  future  security.     Such  has  been  the  patient 
sufferance  of  these  colonies ;  and  such  is  now  the  necessity 
which  constrains  them  to  expunge*  their  former  systems  of 
government.     The  history  of  the  present  king  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, is  a  history  of  unremitting]  injuries  and  usurpations  ; 
among  which  appears  no  solitary  fact  to  contradict  the  uni- 
form tenour  of  the  rest ;  but  all  have\,  in  direct  object,  the 
establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  states.     To 
prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world  ;  for  the 
truth  of  which  we  pledge  a  faith  yet  unsullied  by  falsehood. 
He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  wholesome  and 
necessary  for  the  public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass  laws  of  immediate 
and  pressing  importance,  unless  suspended  in  their  operation 
till  his  assent  should  be  obtained ;  and  when  so  suspended,  he 
has  neglected  utterly^  to  attend  to  them. 

He  h<vs  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommodation 
of  large  districts  of  people,  unless  those  people  would  relin- 
quish the  right  of  representation  in  the  legislature ;  a  right 
inestimably  to  them,  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unusual, 
uncomfortable,  and  distant  from  the  depository  of  their  public 
records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into  compli- 
ance with  his  measures. 

He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly  and 
continually,  for  opposing  with  manly  firmness  his  invasions 
on  the  rights  of  the  people. 

He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such  dissolutions,  to 
cause  others  to  be  elected,  whereby  the  legislative  powers, 

•  Alter.  f  Repeated  *  Having.  $  Utterly  neglected 


APPENIMX,  077 

incapable  of  annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  people  at 
large  for  their  exercise,  the  state  remaining  in  the  mean  time 
exposed  to  all  the  dangers  of  invasion  from  without,  and  con- 
vulsions within. 

He  has  endeavoured  to  prevent  the  population  of  these 
states ;  for  that  purpose  obstructing  the  laws  for  naturaliza- 
tion of  foreigners  ;  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage  their 
migrations  hither;  and  raising  the  conditions  of  new  appro- 
priations of  lands. 

He  has  suffered  the  administration  of  justice  totally  to 
cease  in  some  of  these  states,  refusing*  his  assent  to  laws  for 
establishing  judiciary  powers. 

He  has  made  our  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone,  for 
the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of 
their  salaries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices  by  a  self-assumed 
power  j  and  sent  hither  swarms  of  officers  to  harass  our  peo- 
ple, and  eat  out  their  substance. 

He  has  kept  among  us,  in  times  of  peace,  standing  armies 
and  sftips  ofivar,  without  the  consent  of  our  legislatures. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent  of,  and 
superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction 
foreign  to  our  constitutions,  and  unacknowledged  by  our 
laws ;  giving  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legislation, 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us; 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial,  from  punishment 
for  any  murders  which  they  should  commit  on  the  inhabitants 
of  these  states ; 

For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world ; 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent ; 

For  depriving  usf  of  the  benefits  of  trial  by  jury; 

For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended 
offences  ; 

For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws  in  a  neigh- 
bouring province,  establishing  therein  an  arbitrary  govern- 
ment, and  enlarging  its  boundaries,  so  as  to  render  it  at  once 
an  example  and  fit  instrument  for  introducing  the  same  abso- 
lute rule  into  these  states  ; 

For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  most  valu- 
able laws,  and  altering  fundamentally  the  forms  of  our  go- 
vernment ; 

For  suspending  our  own  legislatures,  and  declaring  them- 

*  He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice,  by  refusing-, 
T  In  many  cases. 


APPENDIX. 

selves  invested  with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all  cases 
whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  withdrawing  his  go- 
vernors, and  declaring  us  out  of  his  allegiance  and  protec- 
tion, and  waging  war  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burnt  our 
towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is  at  this  time  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign 
mercenaries,  to  complete  the  works  of  death,  desolation,  and 
tyranny,  already  begun  with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and 
perfidy,*  unworthy  the  head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  endeavoured  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our 
frontiers  the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of 
warfare  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes, 
and  conditions  of  existence;  he  has  excited  treasonable  insur- 
rections of  our  fellow  citizens  with  the  allurements  of  for 
feiture  and  confiscation  of  our  property. 

He  has  constrained  others^  taken  captives  on  the  high  seas, 
to  bear  arms  against  their  country,  to  become  the  executioners 
of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves  by  their 
hands. 

He  has  waged  cruel  war  against  human  nature  itself,  vio  • 
fating-  its  most  sacred  rights  of  life  and  liberty  in  the  persons 
of  a  distant  people,  who  never  offended  him,  captivating'  and 
carrying  them  into  slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to  incur 
miserable  death  in  their  transportation  thither.  This  piratical 
warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  infidel  powers,  is  the  warfare  of 
the  Christian  king-  of  Great  Britain.  Determined  to  keep  open 
a  market  where  MEN  should  be  bought  and  sold,  he  has  prosti- 
tuted his  negative  for  suppressing  every  legislative  attempt  to 
prohibit  or  to  restrain  this  execrable  commerce.  And  that  this 
assemblage  of  horrors  might  ivant  no  fact  of  distinguished  dye, 
he  is  now  exciting-  those  very  people  to  rise  in  arms  among  us, 
and  to  purchase  that  liberty  of  which  he  has  deprived  them, 
by  murdering  the  people  upon  whom  he  obtruded  them  :  thus 
paying-  of  former  crimes  committed  against  the  liberties  of 
one  people,  -with  crimes  -which  he  urges  them  to  commit  against 
the  lives  of  another. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions,  we  liave  petitioned  for 
redress  in  the  most  humble  terms :  our  repeated  petitions 
have  been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A  prince  whose 
character  is  thus  marked  by  every  act  which  may  define  a 
tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  people  who  mean  to  be, 

•  Scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally 
f  Our  fellow  citizens 


APPENDIX 

free.*  Future  ages  will  scarce  believe  that  the  hardiness  of 
one  man  adventured  within  the  short  compass  of  twelve  years 
only,  to  build  a  foundation,  so  broad  and  undisguised,  for 
tyranny  over  a  people,  fostered  and  fixed  in  principles  of 
freedom. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  attentions  to  our  British 
brethren.  "We  have  warned  them,  from  time  to  time,  of  at- 
tempts by  their  legislature  to  extend  a\  jurisdiction  over 
these  our  states. $  We  have  reminded  them  of  the  circum- 
stances of  our  emigration  and  settlement  here;  no  one  of 
•which  could  -warrant  so  strange  a  pretension :  that  these  were 
effected  at  the  expense  of  our  own  blood  and  treasure,  unas- 
sisted by  the  wealth  or  the  strength  of  Great  Britain  :  that  in 
constituting"  indeed  our  several  forms  of  government,  -we  had 
adopted  one  common  king,  thereby  laying  a  foundation  for  per- 
petual league  and  amity  -with  them  ;  but  that  submission  to 
their  Parliament  was  no  part  of  our  constitution,  nor  ever  in 
idea,  if  history  may  be  credited:  and  we§  appealed  to  their 
native  justice  and  magnanimity,  as  well  as  to  the\\  ties  of  our 
common  kindred,  to  disavow  these  usurpations,  which  were 
likely  to^\  interrupt  our  connexion  and  correspondence.  They 
too  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice,  and  of  consan- 
guinity ;  and  when  occasions  have  been  given  them,  by  the  re- 
gular course  of  their  laws,  of  removing  from  their  councils  the 
disturbers  of  our  harmony,  they  have,  by  their  free  election, 
re-established  them  in  power.  At  this  very  time  too,  they  are 
permitting  their  chief  magistrate  to  send  over  not  only  sol- 
diers of  our  common  blood,  but  [Scotch  and]  foreign  mercena- 
ries to  invade  and  destroy  us.  These  facts  have  given  the  last 
stab  to  agonizing  affection ;  and  manly  spirit  bids  us  to  re- 
nounce for  ever  these  unfeeling  brethren.  We  must  endeavour 
to  forget  our  former  love  for  them;  we  must,  therefore,  ac- 
quiesce in  the  necessity  which  denounces  our  separation,  and 
hold  them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  enemies  in  war, 
in  peace  friends. 

We  might  have  been  a  free  and  a  great  people  together  ;  but 
a  communication  of  grandeur  and  of  freedom,  it  seems,  is  be- 
low their  dignity.  Be  it  so,  since  they  will  have  it.  The  road 
to  happiness  and  to  glory  is  open  to  us  too  ;  we  will  climb  it 
apart  from  them,  and  acquiesce  in  the  necessity  which  de- 
nounces our  eternal  separation  ! 

We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  general  Congress  assembled,  appealing  to  the 

*  Of  a  free  people.         f  An  unwarrantable.          t  Us.          §  Have. 
D  And  we  have  conjured  them  by,          *  Would  inevitably. 


£80  APPENDIX. 

Supreme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our  inten- 
tions, do,  in  the  name,  and  by  authority  of  the  good  people 
of  these  states,*  reject  and  renounce  all  allegiance  and  sub- 
jection to  the  kings  of  Great  Britain,  and  all  others  who  may 
hereafter  claim  by,  through,  or  under  them ;  we  utterly  dis- 
solve all  political  connexion  which  may  heretofore  have  sub* 
sisted  between  us  and  the  Parliament  or  people  of  Great 
Britain ;  and,  finally,  we  do  assert  the  colonies  to  be  free  and 
independent  states,  and  that,  as  free  and  independent  states, 
they  have  full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  contract 
alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  to  do  all  other  acts  and 
things  which  independent  states  may  of  right  do.  And,  for 
the  support  of  this  declaration,  we  mutually  pledge  to  each 
other  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honour, 

*  Colonies. 


APPENDIX, 


NUMBER  VI. 

General  C.  Lee^s  Letter  to  Earl  Percy,  when  the  latter  wa* 
enclosed  with  the  British  &rmy  in  Boston,  1775. 

MY  LORD — Were  your  lordship  only  a  common  colonel  of 
a  regiment,  certainly  I  should  not  have  given  myself  the 
trouble  of  writing,  nor  you  the  trouble  of  reading  this ;  but 
as  you  hold  so  high  a  rank,  and  will,  one  day,  hold  a  still 
higher,  I  conceive  it  will  not  be  improper  to  address  you. 
And,  in  some  measure,  to  apologize  for  my  seeming  want  of 
respect,  as  I  have  not  waited  on  the  general,  for  reasons 
which  he  cannot,  I  think,  disapprove,  I  was  not  certain 
whether  you  might,  in  your  military  capacity,  consider  my 
visit  as  proper :  but,  as  you  are  not  merely  a  soldier,  but  a 
citizen  of  the  first  class  and  importance,  from  your  illustri- 
ous family  and  fashion,  your  vast  property,  and  being  destin- 
ed by  birth  to  be  a  counsellor  of  the  nation,  I  think  some 
explanation  of  my  conduct,  not  only  proper,  but  necessary  : 
and  I  flatter  myself,  that  some  time  or  other,  your  lordship 
will  not  simply  approve  my  conduct,  but  become  a  friend  to 
the  same  cause.  My  lord,  I  will  venture  to  say,  it  is  the 
cause  of  Great  Britain  as  well  as  of  America  :  it  is  the  cause 
of  mankind.  Were  the  principle  of  taxing  America  without 
their  consent,  admitted,  Great  Brttain  would  that  instant 
be  ruined.  The  pecuniary  influence  of  the  crown,  and  the 
army  of  placemen  and  pensioners,  would  be  so  increased, 
that  all  opposition  to  the  most  iniquitous  measures  of  the 
most  iniquitous  ministers,  would  be  forever  borne  down. 
Your  lordship,  I  am  sure,  must  be  sensible,  that  the  pe- 
cuniary influence  is  already  enormously  too  great,  and  that 
a  very  wicked  use  is  made  of  it.  On  these  principles, 
every  good  Englishman,  abstracted  from  any  particular  re- 
gard for  America,  must  oppose  her  being  taxed  by  the  Par- 
liament of  Great  Britain,  or  more  properly  by  the  first  lord 
of  the  treasury  :  for  in  fact,  the  parliament  and  treasury, 
have  of  late  years,  been  one  and  the  same  thing.  But,  my 
lord,  I  have  besides,  a  very  particular  regard  for  America  ; 
I  was  long  among  them,  and  I  know  them  to  be  the  most 
loyal,  affectionate,  zealous  subjects  of  the  whole  empire. 
General  Gage  himself,  must  acknowledge  the  truth  of  what  J 

VOL.  i. — N  n 


2S2  APPENDIX. 

advance  :  he  was  witness  through  the  course  of  the  last  war, 
of  their  zeal,  their  ardour,  their  enthusiasm,  for  whatever 
concerned  the  welfare,  the  interest,  and  the  honour  of  the 
mother  country.  When  I  see,  therefore,  the  extreme  of  cala- 
mities, attempted  to  be  brought  down  upon  such  a  people,  by 
the  intrigues  of  such  a  couple  of  scoundrels  as  Bernard  and 
Hutchinson  ;  when  I  see  a  minister,  violent  and  tyrannical? 
like  North,  mowing  down  whole  communities,  merely  to  in- 
dulge his  hereditary  hatred  to  liberty,  and  those  who  are 
attached  to  her,  I  think  it  the  duty  of  every  honest  man  and 
friend  to  humanity,  to  exert  his  utmost  to  defeat  the  diaboli- 
cal purpose.  That  these  people  have  been  totally  misrepre- 
sented at  home  ;  that  they  have  been  most  unjustly  and  cruelly 
treated,  your  lordship  will,  I  make  no  doubt,  be  sooner  or 
later  convinced;  but  as  from  your  present  situation,  and 
many  circumstances,  you  will  not  probably  fall  into  the  way 
of  truth  so  soon  as  I  could  wish,  I  beg  leave  to  recommend 
to  your  perusal,  a  sort  of  pamphlet,  lately  sent  from  England  : 
it  is  entitled,  "A  true  state  of  the  proceedings  in  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Great  Britain,  and  in  the  province  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay."  Mr will  furnish  your  lordship 

with  it,  if  you  will  make  use  of  my  name  :  it  is  a  fair  and 
candid  relation  of  the  whole  process,  from  beginning  to  end. 
When  your  lordship  has  read  it,  you  will  be  struck  with  com- 
passion and  horror,  and  I  have  great  hopes,  will  become  a  not 
less  warm,  but  more  powerful  friend,  of  this  much  injured 
country,  than  myself.  I  take  the  liberty  of  recommending 
this  method  to  your  lordship,  as  it  is  impossible  you  should 
gather  any  thing  but  misinformation  from  the  men,  who,  I 
iind,  surround  head  quarters.  The  Sewcll's  and  Paxton's, 
are  not  only  interested  to  misrepresent  and  calumniate,  but 
to  exterminate  their  country  :  there  is  no  medium :  their  coun- 
try must  perish,  or  they  meet  with  the  deserts  of  impious 
parricides.  It  was  the  misfortune  of  General  Gage,  from  the 
beginning,  to  fall  into  such  hands  as  these  ;  had  he  not  been 
deluded  by  men  of  this  stamp,  we  should  never  have  seen 
him  acting  in  a  capacity  so  incompatible  with  the  excellence 
of  his  natural  disposition.  I  must  now,  my  lord,  entreat, 
that  as  fools  and  knaves,  will,  from  misunderstanding  and 
malice,  probably  disfigure  my  conduct,  you  will  not  suffer 
them  to  make  any  wrong  impressions  ;  that  you  will  be  per- 
suaded that  I  act  not  from  pique  or  disappointment,  which  I 
conclude,  will  be  insinuated,  but  from  principle.  I  think, 
my  lord,  an  English  soldier  owes  a  very  great  degree  of  reve- 
rence to  the  king,  as  first  magistrate,  and  third  branch  of  the 
legislature,  called  to  this  mighty  station  by  the  voice  of  the 


APPENDIX.  283 

people :  but  I  think  he  owes  still  a  greater  degree  to  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  his  country :  I  think  his  country  is 
every  part  of  the  empire ;  that  in  whatever  part  of  the  empire 
a  flagitious  minister  manifestly  invades  these  rights  and  liber- 
ties, whether  in  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  or  America,  every 
Englishman,  soldier  or  not  soWier,  ought  to  consider  their 
cause  as  his  own.  And  that  the  rights  and  liberties  of  this 
country  are  invaded,  every  man  who  has  eyes,  and  is  not  de- 
termined to  keep  them  shut,  must  see.  These,  my  lord,  are 
my  principles ;  from  these,  I  swear  by  all  that's  sacred  and 
tremendous,  I  purely  and  solely  act ;  and  these,  I  hope,  wilt 
rather  serve,  than  prejudice  me,  in  your  lordship's  opinion. 
I  flatter  myself  still  further,  I  flatter  myself  that  you,  my 
lord,  before  long,  will  adopt  them  :  that  you  will,  at  least,  in 
your  letters  to  your  father,  whom  I  have  been  always  taught 
to  esteem  as  an  honest  man  and  a  friend  to  humanity,  endea- 
vour to  undeceive  the  people  at  home,  if  the  delusion  is  not 
too  strong.  I  can  venture  to  affirm,  that  you  will  feel  some 
Consolation  amidst  the  calamities  ready  to  fall  upon  your 
country,  in  the  reflection  that  you  have  attempted  to  avert 
them.  I  shall  now  finish,  my  lord,  with  entreating,  that  if 
any  thing  appears  impertinent,  either  in  the  matter  or  length 
of  this  letter,  you  will  attribute  it  to  an  intemperate  zeal  in 
an  honest  cause;  and  that  you  will  be  assured,  I  should  not 
have  addressed  it  to  a  man,  of  whom  I  entertained  an  unfa- 
vourable opinion. 

I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  LEE 


APPENDIX. 


NUMBER  VII. 

Letter  from  a  Committee  of  Congress  to  General  Wash- 
ington. 

PHILADELPHIA,  April  10,  1777. 

SIR — In  obedience  to  an  order  of  Congress,  we  inform 
your  excellency  of  the  reasons  and  principles  that  have  go- 
verned Congress  in  their  resolution  for  forming  a  camp  on 
the  west  side  of  Delaware.     The  repeated  information  that 
hath  been  received  of  the  enemy's  movements,  and  it  being  the 
opinion  of  your  excellency,  as  well  as  of  many  other  General 
Officers,  that  this  city  was  the  object  of  such  movements, 
rendered  it  proper  that  means  should  be  fallen  upon  to  pre- 
vent the  success  of  such  a  design,  as  well  to  guard  against 
the  bad  impression  that  it  would  certainly  have  on  the  affairs 
of  America  in  general,   as  to  give  security  to  the  valuable 
stores  here  collected,  and  which  cannot  speedily  be  removed. 
It  has  been  considered,  that  if  the  real  object  of  the  enemy 
should  be  this  city,  the  troops  are  here  well  fixed,  and  it  will  be 
an  encouraging  place  of  resort  to  the  militia  of  this  state,  in 
their  present  unfixed  condition,  being  between  their  old  plan 
of  association,  and  their  new  but  yet  unexecuted  law.  On  the 
other  hand,  should  the  design  of  the  enemy  be  upon  Hudson 
river,  or  more  eastward,  the  troops  here  may  with  ease  reach 
that  river  before  their's,  now  at  head  quarters,  can  have  all 
crossed  it.     But  another  consideration  remains,  and  that  is, 
should  the  enemy  propose  to  remain  in  Jersey  to  attack  your 
army,  or  should  your  excellency  mean  to  make  a  decisive  im- 
pression on  them  when  your  numbers  are  sufficient,  in  either 
of  these  suppositions,  the  troops  ought  not  to  be  here.     In  the 
whole  of  this  business,  Congress  mean  not  in  any  manner,  to 
interfere  with  the  designs,  or  to  counteract  the  judgment  of 
your  excellency,  but  wish  you  freely  to  call  up  to  head  quar- 
ters, all,  or  any  part  of  the  troops  encamped  here,  as  you 
shall  please.     It  is  not  supposed  that  this  will  occasion  any 
delay,  and  will  certainly  prevent  the  injuries  that  would  be 
derived  to  the  troops,   as  well  in  health  as  discipline,  from 
their  entering  and  remaining  any  time  in  this  city. 
We  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c. 


APPENDIX. 


NUMBER  VIII. 

BALTIMORE,  Dec.  21, 1776. 

HONOURABLE  GENTLEMEN — After  expressing  our  hopes 
that  this  will  find  you  all  three  safely  fixed  at  Paris,  we  pro- 
ceed with  pleasure  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  Mr.  Deane's 
letter  of  the  first  of  October.  When  we  reflect  on  the  charac- 
ter and  views  of  the  court  of  London,  it  ceases  to  be  a  wonder 
that  the  British  ambassador,  and  every  other  British  agent, 
should  employ  every  means  that  tended  to  prevent  European 
powers,  but  France  more  especially,  from  giving  America  aid 
in  this  war.   Prospects  of  accommodation,  it  is  well  known, 
would  effectually  prevent  foreign  interference,  and  therefore, 
without  one  serious  design  of  accommodating  on  any  princi- 
ple, but  the  absolute  submission  of  America,  the  delusive  idea 
hath  been  industriously  suggested  on  both  sides  the  water, 
that  under  cover  of  this  dividing  and  aid  withholding  pros- 
pect, the  vast  British  force  sent  to  America,  might  have  the 
fairest  chance  of  succeeding.     And  this  policy  hath  in  fact 
done  considerable  injury  to  the  United  States,  as  we  shall 
presently  show  by  a  just  detail  of  this  campaign,  for  it  is  not 
yet  ended.     You  know,  gentlemen,  that  at  the  moment  a  po- 
tent land  and  marine  force  was  preparing  to  be  sent  here,  an 
act  was  passed  for  appointing  commissioners,  whom  too  many 
expected  were  to  give  peace  to  America  ;  as  therefore  the  war 
might  be  soon  concluded,  so  were  our  military  arrangements 
accommodated,  and  the  troops  taken  into  service  the  last 
spring,  consisting  of  regular  corps  and  bodies  of  militia, 
were  all  engaged  for  short  periods  :  with  these  the  campaign 
began  in  various  parts  of  North  America.    Dr.  Franklin  is 
so  well  acquainted  with  the  progress  of  the  war  in  Canada, 
previous  to  his  departure,  that  we  need  only  observe  the  cam- 
paign has  ended  as  favourably  for  us  in  that  quarter  as  we 
could  reasonably  expect.     The  enemy  having  been  able  to 
pierce  no  further  than  Crown  Point,  after  a  short  stay,  and 
reconnoitering    General    Gates's    army    at    Ticonderoga, 
thought  proper  to  recross  the  lake,  and  leave  us  in  quiet 
possession  of  those  passes.     General  Gates  having  left  a 
proper  force  at  Ticonderoga,   and  on  the  communication, 
retired  with  the  rest  of  his  troops. 


APFEN7UIX. 

New  York  and  its  neighbourhood,  not  being  defensible  by  an 
army,  singly  against  a  strong  land  and  sea  force  acting  in 
conjunction,  was  of  necessity  yielded  to  the  enemy,  after  some 
contest ;  General  Washington  retiring  until  the  situation  of 
the  country  above  Kings-bridge,  no  longer  enabled  the  enemy 
to  receive  aid  from  their  ships.  General  Howe  being  stopped 
here,  and  General  Carleton  at  Crown  point,  effectually  dis- 
appointed the  great  object  of  joining  the  two  armies.  The 
latter,  as  we  have  said,  returning  to  Canada,  and  the  former 
retreating  from  the  White  plains  towards  New  York,  gave 
us  a  favourable  prospect  of  seeing  a  happy  end  put  to  this 
dangerous  campaign.  However,  many  causes  have  concur- 
red in  producing  an  unlucky  reverse  of  fortune  ;  the  nature 
of  the  country,  the  uncommon  fineness  of  weather,  even  to 
this  day,  and  above  all,  the  short  enlistments,  which  gave 
the  soldiery  an  opportunity  of  going  home,  tired  as  they 
were  with  the  operations  of  an  active  summer.  When  Gene- 
ral Howe  retreated  from  the  White  plains,  he  halted  his  whole 
army  on  the  North  river,  between  Dobbs*  ferry  and  Kings- 
bridge,  where  he  remained  for  some  time.  Having  effected 
so  little  of  the  great  business  that  brought  him  here,  and  the 
season  allowing  time  for  it,  most  men  were  of  opinion,  that 
the  next  attempt  would  be,  to  get  possession  of  Philadelphia, 
by  a  march  through  the  Jerseys,  whilst  a  fleet  should  be  sent 
up  the  Delaware  to  facilitate  the  enterprise.  To  guard  against 
such  a  manoeuvre,  General  Washington  crossed  the  North 
river,  with  all  the  battalions  that  had  been  raised  to  the  west- 
ward of  it,  leaving  General  Lee  with  the  eastern  troops,  to 
guard  the  pass  of  the  Highlands  on  Hudson  river.  In  this 
situation  of  things,  Mr.  Howe  made  a  sudden  attack  on  fort 
Washington,  with  the  greater  part  of  his  army,  and  carried 
it  with  a  considerable  loss ;  here  he  made  near  three  thousand 
of  our  men  prisoners.  By  this  event,  it  became  unnecessary 
longer  to  hold  fort  Lee,  (or  fort  Constitution,  as  it  was  for- 
merly called)  which  is  on  the  west  side  of  North  river,  and 
nearly  opposite  to  fort  Washington.  It  had  been  therefore 
determined  to  abandon  fort  Lee,  but  before  the  stores  could 
be  all  removed,  the  enemy  came  suddenly  upon  it,  and  the 
garrison  retreated,  leaving  some  of  their  baggage  and  stores 
behind.  About  this  time,  General  Howe  became  possessed  of 
a  letter,  (by  the  agency  of  some  wicked  person,  who  contrived 
to  get  it  from  the  express,)  written  by  General  Washington 
to  the  board  of  war,  in  which  he  had  given  an  exact  account 
when  the  time  of  service  of  all  our  battalions  would  expire, 
and  his  apprehensions  that  the  men  would  not  reenlist  with- 
out first  going  home,  to  see  their  families  and  friends.  Pos- 


APPENDIX.  , 

sessed  of  this   intelligence,  the  opportunity  was  carefully 
watched,  and  a  vigorous  impression  actually  made,  at  the 
very  crisis,  when  our  army  in  the  Jerseys  was  reduced  to 
three  thousand  men,  by  the  retiring  of  numbers,  and  the  sick- 
ness of  dthers,  and  before  militia  could  in  this  extensive  coun- 
try be  brought  up  to  supply  their  places  ;  the  enemy  marched 
rapidly  on  through  the  Jerseys,  whilst  our  feeble  army  was 
obliged  to  retreat  from  post  to  post,  until  it  crossed  the  Dela- 
ware at  Trenton,   where  about  two  thousand  five  hundred 
militia  from  Philadelphia,  joined  the  general.     Since  General 
Howe's  arrival  on  the  borders  of  the  Delaware,  various  ma- 
neuvers and  stratagems  have  been  practised  to  effect  a  pas- 
sage over  the  river,  but  they  have  hitherto  proved  abortive. 
General  Washington's  small  army  is  placed  along  the  west 
side  of  Delaware,  from  above  Cayell's  ferry  to  within  four- 
teen miles  of  Philadelphia,  whilst  the  Gondolas,  one  frigate, 
and  other  armed  vessels  in  the  river,  above  the  Chivaux  de 
Frize,  cover  the  passage  of  it.     General  Lee,  who  had  cross- 
ed the  North  river  with  as  many  of  the  eastern  troops  as  could 
be  spared  from  the  defence  of  the  Highlands,  either  to  join 
General  Washington,  or  to  act  on  the  enemie's  rear,  as  occa- 
sions might  point  out)  was  the  other  day  unfortunately  sur- 
prised, and  made  prisoner  by  a  party  of  seventy  light-horse, 
who  found  him  in  a  house  a  few  miles  in  the  rear  of  his  army, 
with  his  domestics  only.  This  loss,  though  great,  will  in  some 
degree  be  repaired  for  the  present,  by  General  Gates,  who,  we 
understand,  has  joined  the  army  commanded  by  General  Lee, 
and  who,  we  have  reason  to  think,  has  by  this  time  effected  a 
junction  of  his  force  with  that  of  General  Washington.  As  the 
militia  are  now  marching  from  various  quarters  to  reenforce 
the  general,  if  the  enemy  do  not  quickly  accomplish  their  wishes 
of  possessing  Philadelphia,  we  hope  not  only  to  save  that  city, 
but  to  see  General  Howe  obliged  to  retreat  as  fast  as  he  advanced 
through  the  Jerseys.     General  Clinton,  with  a  fleet,  in  which 
'tis  said  he  carried  eight  thousand  men,  has  gone  from  New 
York  through  the  Sound,  some  suppose  for  Rhode  Island, 
but  his  destination,  or  its  consequences,  we  yet  have  no  cer- 
tainty of.     Thus,  gentlemen,  we  have  given  you  a  true  detail 
of  the  progress  and  present  state  of  our  affairs,  which,  although 
not  in  so  good  a  posture  as  they  were  two  months  ago,  are 
by  no  means  in  so  bad  a  way  as  the  emissaries  of  the  court  of 
London  will  undoubtedly  represent  them  to  be.     If  the  great 
land  and  sea  force  with  which  we  have  been  attacked,  be 
compared  with  the  feeble  state  in  which  the  commencement 
of  this  war  found  us,  in  respect  to  military  stores  of  all  kinds, 
soldiers,  clothing,  money,  and  regular  force,  the  wonder  wil! 


2QS  -APPENDIX. 

rather  be,  that  our  enemies  have  made  so  little  progress,  not 
that  they  have  made  so  much.  All  views  of  accommodation 
with  Great  Britain,  hut  on  principles  of  peace  as  independent 
states,  and  in  a  manner  perfectly  consistent  with  the  treaties 
our  commissioners  may  make  with  foreign  states  being  to- 
tally at  an  end,  since  the  declaration  of  independence  and  the 
embassy  to  the  court  of  France,  Congress  have  directed  the 
raising  of  ninety-four  battalions  of  infantry,  with  some  ca- 
valry, and  we  hear  the  levies  are  going  on  well  in  the  differ- 
ent states;  until  they  are  collected  the  militia  must  curb 
the  enemie's  progress.  The  very  considerable  force  that 
Great  Britain  has  already  in  North  America,  the  possibility 
of  recruiting  it  here  within  their  own  quarters  by  force  and 
fraud  together,  added  to  the  reenforcements  that  may  be  sent 
from  Europe,  and  the  difficulty  of  finding  funds  in  the  present 
depressed  state  of  American  commerce,  all  conspire  to  prove 
incontestibly,  that  if  France  desires  to  preclude  the  possibility 
of  North  America  being  ever  re-united  with  Great  Britain, 
this  is  the  favourable  moment  for  establishing  the  glory, 
strength,  and  commercial  greatness  of  the  former  kingdom, 
and  the  ruin  of  her  ancient  rival.  A  decided  part  now  taken 
by  the  court  of  Versailles,  and  a  vigorous  enterprise  in  the 
war  in  union  with  North  America,  would  with  ease  sacrifice 
the  fleet  and  army  of  Great  Britain,  at  this  time  chiefly  col- 
lected about  New  York,  and  the  inevitable  consequence  would 
be,  the  quick  reduction  of  the  British  West  India  islands, 
already  barred  of  all  defence  by  the  removal  of  their  troops 
to  this  continent.  For  the  reasons  here  assigned,  gentlemen, 
you  will  readily  discern,  how  all-important  it  is  to  the  security 
of  American  independence,  to  urge  France,  and  with  her 
Spain,  into  the  war  as  soon  as  may  be  ;  and,  if  it  be  possible, 
speedily  to  procure  from  the  former  the  number  of  line  of 
hattle  ships,  you  were  desired  in  your  instructions  to  obtain 
for  us,  the  speedy  arrival  of  which  here,  in  the  present  state 
of  things,  might  decide  the  contest  at  one  stroke.  We  shall 
pay  proper  attention  to  what  Mr.  Deane  writes  about  Doctor 
Williamson  and  Mr.  Hopkins,  and  we  think  the  ill  treatment 
this  country  and  Mr.  Deane  have  received  from  these  men, 
strongly  suggest  the  necessity  of  invincible  reserve  with  per- 
sons coming  to  France  as  Americans  and  Mends  to  America, 
whom  the  most  irrefragable  proofs  have  not  removed  all  doubt 
about.  The  British  recall  of  their  Mediterranean  passes,  is 
an  object  of  great  consequence,  and  may  require  much  inter- 
cession with  the  court  of  France,  to  get  settled  on  the  best 
footing  for  the  security  of  American  commerce;  but  this  sub- 
ject has  been  already  touched  in  your  instructions  on  the  6th 


APPENDIX.  289 

article  of  the  treaty,  proposed  to  be  made  with  France,  as  all 
affairs  relative  to  commerce  and  remittances  pass  through 
another  department.     We  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  the  secret 
committee,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Morris,  their  agent  in  France, 
for  every  information  on  these  subjects.     As  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Philadelphia  had,  by  the  enemies'  movements  become 
the  seat  of  war,  it  was  judged  proper  that  Congress  should 
adjourn  to  this  town,  where  the  public  business  may  be  at- 
tended to,  with  the  undisturbed  deliberation  that  its  importace 
demands.     The  Congress  was  accordingly  opened  here  on 
the  20th  instant.     As  it  is  more  than  probable,  that  the  con- 
ference with  Lord  Howe  on  Staten  Island  may  be  misrepre- 
sented, to  the  injury  of  these  states,  we  do  ourselves  the  plea- 
sure, to  enclose  you  an  authenticated  account  of  that  whole 
business,  which  the  possibility  of  Dr.  Franklin's  not  arriving 
renders  proper.     This  step  was  taken  to  unmask  his  lordship, 
and  evince  to  the  world,  that  he  did  not  possess  powers, 
which  for  the  purposes  of  delusion  and  division,  had  been 
suggested.     Mr.  Deane's  proposition  of  loan  is  accepted  by 
Congress,  and  they  have  desired  two  millions  sterling  to  be 
obtained,  if  possible.    The  necessity  of  keeping  up  the  credit 
of  our  paper  currency,  and  the  variety  of  important  uses  that 
may  be  made  of  this  money,  have  induced  Congress  to  go  so 
far,  as  to  offer          per  cent ;  but  this  interest  is  heavy,  and 
it  is  hoped,  you  may  be  able  to  do  the  business  on  much  easier 
terms.    The  resolves  of  Congress  on  this  subject,  are  enclos- 
ed, and  your  earliest  attention  to  them  is  desired,  that  we 
may  know  as  soon  as  possible,  of  this  application.     Another 
resolve,  enclosed,  will  show  you,  that  Congress  approve  of 
armed  vessels  being  fitted  out  by  you,  on  continental  account, 
provided,  the  court  of  France  dislike  not  the  measure,  and 
blank  commissions  for  this  purpose  will  be  sent  you  by  the 
next  opportunity.    Private  ships  of  war,  or  privateers,  can- 
not be  admitted  where  you  are,  because  the  securities  neces- 
sary in  such  cases,  to  prevent  irregular  practices,  cannot  he 
given  by  the  owners  and  commanders  of  such  privateers. 
Another  resolve  of  Congress,  which  we  have  the  honour  to 
enclose  you,  directs  the  conduct  to  be  pursued  with  regard  to 
Portugal.     We  have  nothing  further  to  add  at  present,  but 
to  request,  that  you  will  omit  no  good  opportunity  of  inform- 
ing us,  how  you  succeed  in  your  mission,  what  events  take 
place  in  Europe,  by  which  these  states  may  be  affected,  and 
that  you  convey  to  us,  in  regular  succession,  some  of  the  best 
London,  French,  and  Dutch  newspapers,  with  any  valuable 
political  publications,  that  may  concern  North  America.  We 
have  the  honour  to  be.  with  great  respect  and  esteem,  &c. 
vox.  i — o  o 


,)go  APPENDIX. 

P.  S.  The  American  captures  of  British  vessels,  at  sea, 
have  not  heen  less  numerous,  or  less  valuable,  than  before 
.Doctor  Franklin  left  us.  The  value  of  these  captures  has 
been  estimated  at  two  millions. 


BALTIMOTIE,  December  30,  1776. 

HONOURABLE  GENTLEMEN — You  will  be  pleased  to  re- 
ceive herewith,  copies  of  our  letter  of  the  21st  instant,  and 
of  its  enclosures,   which  we  recommend  to  your  attention  ; 
since  that  letter  was  written,   General  Washington  having 
heen  reenforced  by  the  troops  lately  commanded  by  General 
Lee,  and  by  some  corps  of  militia,  crossed  the  Delaware, 
with  two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  and  attacked  a  body  of 
the  enemy  stationed  at  Trenton,  with  the  success  that  you 
will  see  related  in  the  enclosed  handbill.    We  hope  this  blow 
will  be  followed  by  others  that  may  leave  the  enemy  not  so 
much  to  boast  of  as  they  some  days  ago  expected,  and  we 
had  reason  to  apprehend.     Upon  mature  deliberation  of  all 
circumstances,    Congress  deem  the  speedy  declaration   of 
France,  and  European  assistance,  so  indispensably  necessary 
to  secure  the  independence  of  these  states,  that  they  have 
authorized  you  to  make  such  tenders  to  France  and  Spain  as, 
they  hope,  will  prevent  any  longer  delay  of  an  event  that  is 
judged  so  essential  to  the  well  being  of  North  America. 
Your  wisdom,  we  know,  will  direct  you  to  make  such  use  of 
these  powers  as  will  procure  the  thing  desired,  on  terms  as 
much  short  of  the  concessions  now  offered  as  possible ;  but 
no  advantages  of  this  kind  are  proposed  to  be  contemplated, 
at  the  risk  of  a  delay  that  may  prove  dangerous  to  the  end 
in  view.     It  must  be  very  obvioas  to  the  court  of  France, 
that  if  Great  Britain  should  succeed  in  her  design  of  subju- 
gating these  states,  that  their  inhabitants,  now  well  trained  to 
the  use  of  arms,  might  be  compelled  to  become  instruments  for 
making  conquest  of  the   French  possessions  in  the  West 
Indies,  which  would  be  a  sad  reverse  of  that  security  and 
commercial  benefit  that  would  result  to  France  from  the 
independence  of  North  America.     By  some  accident,   in 
removing  the  papers  from  Philadelphia  to  this  place,  the 
secretary  of  Congress  lias  mislaid  the  additional  instruction, 


APPENDIX. 


£91 


formerly  given  you,  by  which  you  were  empowered  to  nego- 
tiate with  other  courts  than  France.  We  think  it  necessary 
to  mention  this  to  you,  lest  the  paper  should  get  into  wrong 
hands  ;  and,  because  we  wish  to  have  a  copy  sent  us  by  the 
first  good  opportunity.  We  observe  that  Mr.  Deane  sent 
his  despatches,  for  this  committee,  open,  to  Mr.  Bingham  ; 
but,  though  we  have  a  good  opinion  of  that  gentleman,  yet 
we  think  him  rather  too  young  to  be  made  acquainted  with 
the  business  passing  between  you  and  us,  and,  therefore,  wish 
this  may  not  be  done  in  cases  of  much  importance.  The  next 
opportunity  will  bring  you  the  determination  of  Congress 
concerning  the  persons  that  are  to  be  sent  to  the  courts  of 
Vienna,  Prussia,  Spain,  and  the  grand  duke  of  Tuscany. 
In  the  mean  time,  it  is  hoped,  that,  through  the  medium  of 
the  ambassadors  from  those  courts  to  that  of  France,  you 
may  be  able  to  procure  their  friendly  mediation  for  the  pur- 
poses proposed  by  Congress.  One  of  our  continental  armed 
vessels,  of  fourteen  guns,  lately  met  with  a  king's  sloop  of  war 
of  twelve  guns,  and,  after  a  smart  engagement,  the  sloop  was 
brought  into  the  Delaware.  In  our  last,  we  say,  the  prison- 
ers made  by  the  enemy  at  Fort  Washington,  were  near  three 
thousand,  but  the  number  is  fixt  at  two  thousand  six  hun- 
dred, and  the  number  of  West  Indiamen  taken  by  our  cruiz- 
ers,  amounts  to  two  hundred  and  fifty.  Wishing  you  health 
and  success,  we  remain,  honourable  gentlemen,  &c. 


BALTIMORE,  (Maryland,)  February  19,  1777. 

HONOURABLE  GENTLEMEN — The  events  of  war  have  not, 
since  our  last,  furnished  any  thing  decisive.  The  enemy's 
army  still  remains  encamped  upon  the  hills  near  Brunswick, 
and  still  our  troops  continue  to  beat  back  and  destroy  their 
convoys  ;  insomuch,  that,  we  understand,  their  horses  die  in 
numbers  ;  and,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  that  the  difficulty 
of  removing  their  stores,  cannon,  &c.  will  be  insuperably 
great,  until  the  opening  of  the  Rariton  furnishes  a  passage 
by  water  for  their  return  to  New  York.  The  American 
army  is  not  numerous  at  present,  hut  the  new  levies  are  col- 
lecting as  fast  as  possible,  and  we  hope  to  have  a  sufficient 
force  early  in  the  field.  We  see  by  the  speech  of  the  king  of 


APPENDIX. 

Great  Britain  to  his  Parliament,  that  much  money  will  be 
called  for ;  no  doubt,  to  prosecute  the  war  with  unrelenting 
vigour.  That  we  shall  oppose  with  all  our  power,  is  certain, 
but  the  event  must  be  doubtful  until  France  shall  take  a 
decided  part  in  the  war.  When  that  happens,  our  liberties 
will  be  secured,  and  the  glory  and  greatness  of  France  be 
placed  on  the  most  solid  foundation.  What  may  be  the  con- 
sequence of  her  delay  must  be  a  painful  consideration  to 
every  friend  of  that  country  and  of  this.  Thus  viewing  our 
situation,  we  are  sure  it  will  occasion  your  strongest  exer- 
tions to  procure  an  event  of  such  momentous  consequence  to 
your  country.  It  is  in  vain  for  us  to  have  on  hand  a  great 
abundance  of  tobacco,  rice,  indigo,  flour,  and  other  valuable 
articles  of  merchandise,  if  prevented  from  exporting  them 
by  having  the  whole  naval  power  of  Great  Britain  to  contend 
against.  It  is  not  only  for  our  interest,  but  clearly  so  for 
the  benefit  of  Europe  in  general,  that  we  should  not  be  hin- 
dered from  freely  transmitting  our  products,  that  abound 
here,  and  are  so  much  wanted  there.  Why  should  the  avarice 
and  ambition  of  Great  Britain  be  gratified  to  the  excessive 
injury  of  other  nations?  We  feel  sensibly  the  disagreeable 
situation  Mr.  Deane  must  have  been  in,  from  early  in  June 
to  the  date  of  his  letter,  in  October ;  but  this  was  occasioned 
by  accident,  not  neglect,  of  writing,  since  letters  were  sent 
to  him  in  all  the  intervening  months,  which  must  have  un- 
luckily fallen  into  the  enemies'  hands,  or  been  destroyed. 
Mr.  Bingham  informs  us,  from  Martinique,  that  he  learned 
from  a  Spanish  general  there,  on  his  way  to  South  America, 
that  the  king  of  Spain  was  willing  to  do  the  United  States 
offices  of  friendship,  and  that  a  loan  of  money  might  be  ob- 
tained from  that  court.  As  the  power  sent  you  for  borrow- 
ing is  not  confined  to  place,  we  mention  this  intelligence  that 
you  may  avail  yourselves  of  his  Catholic  majesty's  friendly 
designs.  Perhaps  a  loan  can  be  obtained  there  on  better 
terms  than  elsewhere.  Mr.  Deane  recommends  sending  fri- 
gates to  France,  and  to  convoy  our  merchandise ;  but  it 
should  be  considered  that  we  are  young  in  the  business  of 
fitting  ships  of  war ;  that  founderies  for  cannon  were  all  to 
be  erected,  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  seamen  quickly,  when 
privateers  abound  as  they  do  from  the  states  where  sailors 
are  chiefly  to  be  met  with ;  and  lastly,  that  our  frigates  are 
much  restrained  by  the  heavy  ships  of  the  enemy  \vhich  are 
placed  at  the  entrance  of  our  bays  ;  in  short,  the  attention  of 
Great  Britain  must  in  part  be  drawn  from  here  before  France 
can  benefit  largely  by  our  commerce.  We  expect  it  will 
not  be  long  before  Congress  will  appoint  commissioners  to 


APPENDIX. 

the  courts  formerly  mentioned  ;  and,  in  the  meantime,  you 
will  serve  the  cause  of  your  country,  in  the  hest  manner  pos- 
sible, with  the  ministers  from  those  courts  to  that  of  Ver- 
sailles. Earnestly  wishing  for  good  news,  and  quickly,  from 
you,  we  remain,  with  friendship  and  esteem,  honourable  gen- 
tlemen, your  most  obedient  humble  servants. 

P.  S.  Congress  adjourns  this  week  back  to  Philadelphia. 


APPENDIX, 


NUMBER  IX. 

FISHKILL,  the  23d  of  May,  1778. 

SIR — Although  I  have  tout  the  honour  of  a  short  acquaint- 
ance with  you,  being  upon  the  eve  of  my  departure  from  this 
country,  I  take  the  liberty  of  troubling  you  with  a  few  lines. 
After  having  complied  with  all  the  orders  of  Congress,  I 
was  sent  back  to  Albany,  in  the  latter  end  of  last  month.     I 
then  represented  to  General  Washington,  to  the  board  of 
war,  and  to  the  president  of  Congress,  that  I  being  a  French 
officer,  and  the  most  advanced  in  rank  in  the  French  army, 
(in  spite  of  the  stories  and  false  pretensions  of  Mr.  Ralb,)  of 
all  the  French  officers  who  came  over,  I  could  not  think  of 
being  idle  in  a  town,  while  others  were  fighting,  that  this 
was  neither  becoming  my  character,  nor  consistent  with  my 
principles  ;  I  therefore  requested  to  be  put  in  the  way  of  ac- 
tion, and  if  any  services  were  not  thought  necessary,  I  ex- 
pected that  Congress  would  give  me  such  a  certificate,  as 
might  justify  me  in  returning  to  France,  at  the  opening  of 
the  campaign.     In  answer  to  this  pressing  demand  of  mine, 
Congress  resolved  to  accept  of  my  resignation  ;  but  I  did  not 
hear  a  word  about  the  certificate  to  which  I  am  entitled.     I 
do  not  blame  the  Congress  at  large  for  this  extraordinary 
usage.     I  am  told  that  it  has  been  the  effect  of  a  cabal  preju- 
diced against  me.     I  do  not  meddle  with  any  cabal,  but  what- 
ever might  be  the  influence  of  my  unknown  enemies  in  Con- 
gress, I  expect  that  in  your  dispassionate  view,  Congress  will 
consider  that  I  have  served  with  zeal  and  honour,  that  ITiave 
been  invited,  solicited,  and  sent  over,  by  Mr.  Silas  Deane, 
that  I  was  detained  by  Congress,  that  I  have  complied  with 
all  orders  directed  to  me,  that  if  my  desire  of  serving  in  the 
field,  of  being  in  the  way  of  action,  is  not  agreeable,  I  ought 
to  be  dischaged  in  a  manner  becoming  the  dignity  of  Congress, 
as  an  officer  called  for  by  your  agent,  and  who  bears  an  ho- 
nourable rank  in  the  army  of  the  power  allied  with  the  United 
States.     This,  sir,  I  have  mentioned  to  President  Laurens, 
and  as  I  set  a  value  upon  your  esteem,  I  thought  it  would  not 
be  improper  to  let  you  know,  that  when  a  number  of  French 
officers,  (or  who  are  said  to  be  so,)  are  devouring  the  pay 
and  rations  of  the  continent  far  from  the  army,  I  was  discarded 


APPENDIX.  295 

from  the  army,  because  I  strenuously  applied  for  being  em- 
ployed in  the  field  ;  it  is  the  first  instance,  I  believe,  of  such 
an  application  being  reckoned  criminal.  I  am,  with  much 
regard,  sir,  your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

THOMAS  CONWAY. 

Col.  KicnAKit  HESRT  LEI. 


CAMP  AT  WHITE  PLAINS,  August  17th,  1778. 

SIR — I  received  both  letters  you  honoured  me  with,  dated 
15th  of  February,  and  23d  of  March,  last  past,  but  rather  late, 
the  first  came  to  hand  the  20th  of  May,  and  the  second  in  June. 
A  long  sickness,  the  march  of  the  army  when  I  was  yet  very 
unwell,  and  a  good  deal  of  business  since  my  recovery,  have 
prevented  me  from  answering  before  now.     You  are  much  in 
the  right,  sir,  to  think  that  the  change  in  political  matters, 
must  place  your  independence  beyond  all  doubt,  and  far  be- 
yond the  power  of  England  to  disturb ;   I  heartily  rejoice 
with  you  and  all  true  Americans,  on  the  occasion.     It  is  to 
be  expected,  also,  the  alliance  with  France  and  the  real  as- 
sistance the  king  intends  to  the  states,  must  needs  procure 
you  a  speedy  and  lasting  peace.  This  day  I  wrote  to  President 
Laurens,  in  favour  of  Mons.  le  Vicomte  de  Mauray  and  Mons. 
le  Chev.  de  Fayolles,  which  will  be  laid  before  the  supreme 
council  of  the  states.     I  need  not  to  trouble  you  with  the 
contents  of  it*     I  will  only  observe  to  you,  that  I  am  ordered 
to  do  the  same  by  Marshal  Duke  de  Broglie,  and  the  count, 
his  brother,  and  as  they  expect  my  answer,  on  that  account, 
I  should  be  greatly  obliged  to  you,  if  you  would  be  pleased  to 
let  me  have  the  reasons  for,  or  against,  as  the  matter  will  be 
debated  in  Congress,  and  to  be  very  particular  in  that  respect. 
Though  I  ardently  wish  Mons.  de  Mauray's  request  be  granted, 
yet  I  am  afraid  it  will  not,  by  reason  of  a  letter  he  wrote,  as 
I  understood,  to  Congress,  not  very  acceptable.     If  he  is  re- 
fused on  that  account,  I  should  be  glad  to  have  it  mentioned, 
because  I  think  his  noble  protectors,  are  unacquainted  with 
this  piece  of  bad  policy  of  his.     I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with 
great  respect  and  esteem,  dear  sir, 

Your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 
The  Baron  de  KALB. 

Col.  RICHABD  HS>HRT  LES,  Delegate  in  Congress. 


296  APPENDIX, 


WILMINGTON,  August  13,  1?78. 

SIR — I  am  arrived  here  these  two  days,  with  all  the  ca- 
valry, and  expecting  the  infantry  in  four,  will  present  myself 
with  my  corps  to  the  Congress,  to  pass  the  review  in  the  end  of 
this  month,  and  pursue  the  enemy  immediately  after.  I  should 
have  been  very  glad  to  he  ready  sooner ;  hut  I  hope  every 
body  shall  be  persuaded,  that  it  is  not  the  business  of  one  day, 
to  raise  and  form  a  corps.  However,  I  heard  the  honourable 
Congress  don't  seem  to  be  much  satisfied  with  my  applica- 
tion :  I  can't  guess  what  may  be  the  reason  of  it,  for  I  always 
did  all  in  my  power  to  prove  to  them,  that  honour,  and  a  true 
desire  of  distinguishing  myself  in  defence  of  liberty,  was 
always  the  only  motive  which  fired  my  breast,  for  the  cause 
of  the  United  States.  I  do  trust  myself  enough  in  your  know- 
ledge, to  be  in  hopes,  that  you'll  be  kind  enough  to  support 
me  against  the  false  preventions  which  might  have  been  made 
against  me.  I  am,  with  respect,  sir, 

Your  most  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

C.  PULASKI. 

Hon.  Colonel  LEE,  Esq. 

P.  S.  Captain  Baldesqui,  paymaster  of  my  legion,  who 
will  deliver  you  my  letter,  is  acquainted  with  all  the  parti- 
culars of  the  legion's  business ;  you  may  know  any  thing 
irpm  him. 


BRISTOL,  Sept.  16,  1777. 

SIR — I  am  unable  to  tell  you,  with  how  much  reluctance 
and  even  sorrow,  I  must  acquaint  you,  that  I  cannot  accept 
of  the  honour  Congress  intended  to  me,  for  the  various  rea- 
sons I  explained  to  you,  sir,  to  several  members  of  Congress, 
but  more  particularly  to  Mr.  Lovell,  and  which  I  repeat  to 
Mr.  Secretary  Thomson,  they  are  all  of  great  weight  with 
me.  I  beseech  you,  dear  sir,  to  lay  before  Congress,  that  I 
have,  and  always  shall  retain  the  highest  sense  of  thankful- 
ness and  veneration,  for  the  whole  of  so  respectable  a  body  of 
men,  and  for  each  of  the  members  in  particular.  My  most 
sincere  vows  will  ever  be,  for  success  to  all  their  measures 
and  undertakings,  and  for  the  general  welfare  and  happiness 
of  your  states.  I  will  never  forget  the  private  obligations  I 
owe  to  several  of  your  gentlemen,  but  especially  to  your 


APPENDIX. 

kindness  to  me.  I  never  will  be  happier  than  when  I  shall 
hear  from  you,  or  when  I  shall  be  able  to  convince  you  of  the 
esteem  and  respect,  with  which  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

Sir, 
Your  most  obedient, 

And  most  humble  servant, 

TEE  BARON  DE  KALB. 

The  Hon.  Colonel  RICHARD  HXNBT  LEE, 
Philadelphia. 


TOI.  I.— »  p 


293  APPENDIX. 


NUMBER  X. 
Letter  from  the  Count  De  Grasse,  to  Richard  Henry  Lee. 

Je  m'empresse,  Monsieur,  de  vous  faire  passer  toutes  les 
expressions  de  ma  reconnoissance,  tout  au  sujet  des  choses 
flatteuses  et  obligeantes  que  vous  voulez  bien  me  dire  dans  la 
lettre  dont  vous  m'avez  honore,  qu'au  sujet  des  differentes 
provisions,  et  rafraichissements  que  vous  avez  eu  la  bonte  de 
m'envoyer.  Faites  moi  je  vous  prie  1'amitie  de  croire  quo 
mon  plus  grand  regret  en  quittant  res  parages,  sera  de  n'avoir 
pas  etc  assez  heureux  pour  vous  faire  mes  remesciments  de 
vive  voix  et  faire  avec  vous,  une  connaissance  person  nolle  et 
particuliere.  Cbargez  vous,  si'l  vous  plait,  Monsieur,  de 
presenter  les  temoignages  de  ma  gratitude  a  ceux  de  voscom- 
patriotes  qui  eut  bien  voulee  contribuer  a  la  marque  d'amitie 
que  vous  m'avez  donne,  et  croyez  que  la  reconnaissance  que 
j'en  conserverai  sera  aussi  durable  que  Pattachement  sincere 
avec  lequel  j'ai  Phoneur  d'etre, 

Monsieur, 
Votre  tres  humble  ettres  obeissante  serviteur, 

LE  COMTE  DE  GRASSE. 

Abord  de  la  Yille  de  Paris, 
le  Jy  8vre.  1781. 


[TRANSLATION.] 

I  hasten,  Sir,  to  transmit  you  every  expression  of  thank- 
fulness, as  well  for  the  flattering  and  obliging  expressions  you 
have  been  pleased  to  use  in  the  letter  with  which  you  honour- 
ed me,  as  for  the  variety  of  provisions  and  refreshments, 
which  you  have  had  the  goodness  to  send  me.  Do  me  the 
favour.  I  entreat  you,  to  believe,  that  my  greatest  regret  at 
quitting  this  country,  will  be,  the  not  having  been  so  happy 
as  to  have  returned  you  my  thanks  in  person,  and  to  have 
made  a  personal  and  particular  acquaintance  with  you.  Be 
pleased,  Sir,  to  testify  my  gratitude  to  those  of  your  country- 


APPENDIX. 

men,  who  have  been  so  good  as  to  contribute  to  the  proof  of 
regard  which  you  have  given  me ;  and  be  assured,  Sir,  that 
my  gratitude  will  be  as  durable  as  the  sincere  attachment, 
with  which  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
Your  most  obedient, 

And  most  humble  servant, 

THE  COUNT  DE  GRASSE. 


END  OF  VOL,  I, 


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